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City bonuses have been used as a "licence for unfairness and discrimination" against women, Harriet Harman will say as she launches another inquiry into the controversial payments.
The Commons leader has asked the Equality Commission to look into why men earn 40% more in the under-fire sector - and believes action must go beyond existing bans on board-level payouts.
Ms Harman, Labour's deputy leader, will speak amid speculation that banks are seeking to rush through bonuses for thousands of high-earning staff before an expected government crackdown.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week that any payments at Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now 68% taxpayer-owned, must reflect the economic conditions and the bank's performance.
US president Barack Obama's proposal of a 500,000 dollar (£346,450) cap on payments to American bank executives who participated in the US bailout has led to speculation that a similar deal may be in the offing in the UK.
Addressing a Labour Party regional conference in Sheffield, Ms Harman will say: "We don't have to choose between a strong economy and fairness - we must have both. And that includes fairness in the financial services sector.
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"There is something rotten in the remuneration system of the banks and finance companies. Men paying themselves millions of pounds of bonuses each - and then saying that they didn't know what was going on.
"Half the employees in the finance sector are women. Yet the men are paid 40% more than the women employees."
Barclays Group and Lloyds were rumoured on Friday to be planning bonus payouts running into hundreds of millions of pounds to top executives and more junior staff over the coming weeks.
It followed anger at reports that RBS, which is being propped up with £20 billion of public money, was preparing to make payouts to thousands of its senior staff.
