Barclays annual report set to aggravate bankers' pay row

Barclays is likely to be the next bank to inflame the row over pay when it admits its president Bob Diamond picked up more than £22m last year, despite waiving his bonus. The bank could publish its annual report as soon as tomorrow when it will disclose the pay of its boardroom bosses. While Diamond and John Varley, the chief executive, have rejected any cash bonuses for 2009 in an attempt to defuse the furore surrounding executive pay, they are expected to benefit from other long-term pay schemes that paid out last year. Diamond's pay has been inflated by the sale of the fund management arm, Barclays Global Investors, in June. The sale crystallised specially created shares he owned in the business that were valued at £22m. His basic salary is £250,000. At the time, other employee-shareholders in BGI – now known as Blackrock Global Investors – shared in payouts estimated at £730m. Varley and Diamond's decision to waive their bonuses prompted every other bank boss to either decline their payout – as was the case at Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland – or pledge to hand millions to charity, as happened at HSBC and Standard Chartered.