Thirty senior bankers from Société Générale have left to set up their own hedge fund business, amid growing pressure on French banks to curb bonuses for top staff, a report said yesterday.

The team, including the head of the bank's global hedge funds business and several of his most senior colleagues, have left in a move backed by an American equity firm, the Financial Times said.

The new hedge fund venture will be called Nexar Capital and will be based in Paris with an office in New York, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

Nexar aims to raise $10 billion in assets under management, excluding acquisitions, within five years.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a tough line on cracking down on bonuses for bankers, blamed in part for the global financial crisis.

French officials have warned that Mr Sarkozy was ready to walk out of next week's G20 summit in Pittsburgh if no progress is achieved on curbing bonuses.

France's two largest investment banks, Société Générale and BNP Paribas, have pledged to act on payouts, but some in the financial sector have warned that curtailing bonuses will deter firms from hiring and keeping top staff.