Major British and American news websites have pounced on the terrible timing of the unknown banker, who admired racy pictures of Kerr, photographed by GQ magazine, while a colleague made a live cross to the Channel Seven newsroom yesterday.

The banker's computer screen was highly visible to the television audience, who were tuning in to catch up on the latest interest rate decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The banker managed to make a good assessment of three pictures of the barely-clothed Kerr before another colleague wandered over to chat to him.

At one point, the penny appeared to drop.

The banker glanced over his shoulder before the man doing the talking, Martin Lakos, crossed back to newsreader Chris Bath in the studio.

Both Macquarie and the Seven network issued tersely-worded statements in response.

"On behalf of our viewers, we have expressed our concern to Macquarie," a Seven spokesman said.

"They have assured us they are taking the appropriate action."

A Macquarie spokeswoman said the bank "takes matters such as the unacceptable use of technology extremely seriously" and that the matter "is being dealt with internally".

But many internet users rallied behind the banker, pointing out, that far from pornography, the photographs were published in GQ and were splashed all over the internet yesterday, including on the Daily Mail newspaper's website.

The Daily Mail itself capitalised on the controversy, today incorporating the banker's gaffe into its follow-up coverage of Kerr.