Barclays fuels anger over Bob Diamond's pay

Barclays fuelled anger over bankers' pay today after it emerged three senior staff topped the £6.75 million 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 £6.5 million 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 £10.9 million in 2010 - overtaking Mr Diamond's combined pay by around £4 million.

Mr 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 Mr 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 Mr Diamond.

The five anonymous individuals at Barclays took home pay and bonuses of £10.9 million, £10.6 million, £7.8 million, £5.2 million and £3.7 million.

Mr Diamond, who became chief executive in January after heading investment banking arm Barclays Capital, received £250,000 base salary last year. The American's total pay package overtook his peer at HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, who received £6.2 million, including bonus.

John Mann MP, who grilled Mr 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 £6.5 million bonus could pay for more than 200 trained social workers or nurses for a year. The time for remorse is far from over - we want to see the bankers accepting that they must contribute to paying off the debt they caused."

The report confirmed John Varley, Mr Diamond's predecessor, was awarded a £2.2 million bonus on top of his £1.65 million salary.

In his new role Mr Diamond receives an annual salary of £1.35 million, with a potential annual bonus of up to £3.375 million. He is also entitled to long-term performance-based incentive shares worth £6.75 million next year.

The remuneration report, again under Project Merlin conditions, revealed the amount of pay received by those staff whose work could have an impact on the bank's risk profile.

The breakdown revealed the so-called "code staff" at higher-risk Barclays Capital received a combined £406 million, compared with £45 million at the retail operation.

Barclays previously revealed that total staff costs jumped by a fifth to almost £12 billion last year, despite a 12% cut in its bonus pool for investment bankers.

In a year when pre-tax profits rose 32% to £6.1 billion, Barclays added that the group-wide pot for performance-related awards fell 7% to £3.4 billion.

The average bonus at Barclays Capital, not including salary, was £104,839 compared with £125,100 a year earlier.

Bankers' pay has fallen under increased scrutiny since the financial crisis in 2007 and recently Britain's biggest banks agreed to show some restraint on pay.

The bonus received by Mr Diamond is entirely determined by the bank's remuneration committee. Mr Diamond wanted his bonus to be commercial but in line with the public mood on bankers' pay.