BARCLAYS has fuelled anger over bankers' pay after it emerged three senior staff topped the £6.75m earned by boss Bob Diamond last year.
The bumper pay-outs were disclosed in the bank’s remuneration report, which showed Mr Diamond was awarded and subsequently accepted a bonus payout of £6.5m on top of his basic salary of £250,000 last year.
Barclays said its top earner below board level, who was unnamed, received a total pay package of £10.9m in 2010 – overtaking Diamond’s combined pay by around £4m.
Diamond, who recently told MPs the time for “remorse and apology” from banks needed to be over, will not take any of his bonus in up-front cash, but rather in shares and “deferred incentives”, which depend on how the bank performs. The figures drew an angry response from union leaders while a member of the Treasury select committee labelled Diamond’s bonus as “extraordinary greed”.
The report contained more details than usual due to conditions drawn up in the Project Merlin deal between Britain’s biggest banks and the Government.
The banks agreed to rein in bonuses as well as publish details of the top five highest paid senior executive officers, excluding directors such as Diamond.
The five anonymous individuals at Barclays took home pay and bonuses of £10.9m, £10.6m, £7.8m, £5.2m and £3.7m.
Diamond, who became chief executive in January after heading investment banking arm Barclays Capital, received £250,000 base salary.
The American’s total pay package overtook his peer at HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, who received £6.2m, including bonus.
John Mann MP, who grilled Diamond at a Treasury select committee hearing in January, said: “This is extraordinary greed. He has clearly not listened to any of the calls for restraint.”
Dave Prentis, general secretary at public sector union Unison, said: “At a time when public sector workers are facing pay freezes, jobs are being lost and inflation is rising, hitting families hard, bankers are still bringing home huge bonuses.
“Bob Diamond’s £6.5m bonus could pay for more than 200 trained social workers or nurses for a year.”
The report confirmed John Varley, Mr Diamond’s predecessor, was awarded a £2.2m bonus on top of his £1.65m salary. In his new role Diamond receives an annual salary of £1.35m, with a potential annual bonus of up to £3.375m. He is also entitled to long-term performance-based incentive shares worth £6.75m next year.
