Several senior British MPs accused US regulators of pursuing an anti-City of London agenda in its assault on Standard Chartered, suggesting it was part of an apparent attempt to weaken a rival financial centre.

John Mann, a Labour member of the Treasury select committee, said he detected an “increasing anti-British bias by US regulators and politicians” that could have been influenced by a desire to shift business from the City to Wall Street. “This is a real power grab [by US authorities] and the stakes are very high.”

Unease is growing, even among opposition Labour politicians who have been severely critical of the banking industry, about the spate of negative headlines about Barclays and its involvement in the Libor scandal, HSBC over money-laundering, and now StanChart.