Make directors liable for failure

He will add that directors deemed to be reckless should be disqualified from being able to work at another firm.

Mr Cable also wants to allow individual regulators to disqualify directors in their particular industries, reports The BBC.

His proposals follow concerns over the toughness of corporate oversight.

A series of banking scandals, such as Libor and the mis-selling of PPI, as well as huge state bailouts in the wake of the financial crisis, have dented public confidence.

The business secretary is to announce the proposals in a speech at the London Stock Exchange at an event on “Responsible Capitalism”.

A discussion paper on the proposals will be published this week.

Following the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards’ recommendation that directors of banks should have a “primary responsibility” to ensure the safety and stability of their firms, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills wants to consult on amending the statutory duties of directors in key sectors such as banking.

It also wants courts to be able to consider “additional factors” in director disqualification proceedings, such as the nature and number of previous company failures in which a director has been involved.

This comes in the wake of high-profile corporate failures, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, which both had to be bailed out by the taxpayer.