LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet top retail and investment bank executives in London today to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis ahead of a trip to the US. The meeting comes as concern grows over the sector's health and is expected to touch on regulation and the effects of current market turmoil, ahead of Brown's meetings with Wall Street bankers later in the week.

"It will consist of a wide group of people from the city, not specifically mortgage lenders," Brown's spokesman said yesterday. "It is one of an occasional series of meetings he has."

Brown is also expected to speak at a private event at investment bank Goldman Sachs in London later today.

Brown, who will be in the United States from April 16-20, is due to hold a meeting with President George W. Bush and attend the UN Security Council meeting on Africa.

Concern over the impact of the credit crunch in Britain is growing, and mortgage lenders on Friday called on the Bank of England to increase efforts to ease the impact, warning home loans could halve from last year's levels.

Today's meeting is not expected to focus on mortgages, but finance minister Alistair Darling, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper and Minister for Housing Caroline Flint will meet the Council of Mortgage Lenders next week.

A global lending squeeze has made it harder for banks to raise funds on financial markets, forcing mortgage lenders to toughen up their loan terms and raising the risk of a sharp housing market downturn and economic slowdown in Britain.