Speaking at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland today (27 January), Diamond pointed to a back drop of "more optimism" around the global economy and said: "Lending is our business, and over 85% of loan applications from SMEs are approved."
However, he added that the common perception that loans applications were turned down, was because "one of the nuances that is missed is that the terms are different from lending in 2006 and 2007," before the economic storm.
"Banks are carrying more capital. The cost of credit is higher," he said.
He added: "Demand is down significantly."
On the subject of bank bonuses, never far from newspaper headlines, he said: "No final decisions have been made. But I am happy to say that we are looking very seriously at contingent securities as part of our compensation package", in lieu of cash.
This footage is made available to Marketing from CNBC, reporting from the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Visit .
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