Barclays’ chief executive Antony Jenkins, who replaced Bob Diamond Aug. 30, was paid £2.6-million in 2012. Mr. Diamond took home £17-million in 2011.HANDOUT/Reuters
Britain's Barclays PLC paid more than 400 bankers £1-million ($1.5-million U.S.) or more in 2012, a scandal-hit year that saw chief executive Bob Diamond ousted and his successor vow reform.
Some 428 bankers made the £1-million mark, down from 473 in 2011, according to new disclosures in Barclays' annual report released on Friday.
Barclays said five staff were paid more than £5-million last year, down from 17 people in 2011.
Fifty were paid between £2.5-million and £5-million and 373 staff received £1-million to £2.5-million.
Chief executive Antony Jenkins was paid £2.6-million, including £1.8-million after becoming CEO on Aug. 30 and a long-term share award.
He said last month he would forgo his bonus after the bank's tough year, when it was fined $450-million for rigging Libor interest rates, prompting former CEO Diamond and its chairman to quit.
Mr. Diamond took home £17-million in 2011 and was regularly slammed by politicians for the scale of his pay.
He quit in July and waived £20-million of unvested bonuses when he left, and was paid £1.3-million pounds for 2012. He will receive a lump sum in July of about £2-million for his salary, pension and benefits in the year since leaving.
His successor Mr. Jenkins, previously head of retail and business banking, last month said he would axe at least 3,700 jobs and prune the investment bank.
He has cut pay for investment bankers, halted speculative trading in agricultural commodities and closed a profitable tax advisory unit. He has also pledged higher dividends for investors.
Mr. Jenkins has said technology will also transform the bank, and recently told investors such innovations could see its work force reduced by around a quarter to 100,000 in the long-term.
Barclays revealed the pay bands for all its 145,000 staff, fulfilling a promise by new chairman David Walker to provide greater transparency on pay.
The pay included salary, bonus and the value of long-term share awards.
The new management team has pledged to address cultural problems at Barclays after criticism it was too aggressive and took too much risk in the past, but has admitted rebuilding the bank and its reputation could take five to 10 years.
The bank paid out £1.85-billion pounds in bonuses for 2012, down 14 per cent on the year.
It said it clawed back £300-million of deferred bonuses and long-term awards to reflect the Libor scandal and other issues.
The average bonus for investment bankers was £54,100, but the bank said almost half of its investment bankers – 45 per cent – received no bonus.
Investment bank boss Rich Ricci did not take a bonus and his pay is not revealed as he is not an executive director, but it is likely to have been about £1.5-million.
Chris Lucas, finance director, received £2.1-million after foregoing his bonus. Both he and Mr. Jenkins were awarded the maximum long-term share award of four times their salary, although that hinges on future performance.
Barclays said in July that the bank, Mr. Lucas and three other past and present employees are being investigated by Britain's financial regulator and the Serious Fraud Office over commercial agreements made with Qatari investors in 2008.