Tumbleweed will be drifting down Lombard Street in the City of London in a few years if top bankers infuriated by a new set of bonus regulations and higher taxes are to be believed. But are they exaggerating? Rules drawn up by European banking regulators that could mean "only" £50,000 of a £500,000 bonus can be paid in cash are top of the bankers' list of complaints. The 50% higher rate of income tax introduced by the Labour government is another beef. And don't get them started on the coalition's plan to slap a £2.5bn-a-year levy on banks' balance sheets or the cap on the number of skilled non-EU workers who can be given work permits. Then there is the commission looking at whether banks should be broken up. Stuart Gulliver, chief executive designate of HBSC, has issued a warning ahead of any recommendation that might force HSBC to break itself up, saying it could "have serious implications" for where the bank will be headquartered. He, for one, will be moving to Hong Kong whatever happens.