Barclays gives £10m pay and bonus deals to two bankers

Two senior Barclays bankers were awarded more than £10 million each in pay and bonuses last year, the bank admitted today.

The huge scale of their remuneration was revealed for the first time under the Project Merlin agreement with the Government on better transparency.

While new chief executive Bob Diamond received a total of £6.75 million, including a £6.5 million bonus, his pay was dwarfed by that of several colleagues in a year of pay "restraint".

The best paid, likely to be one of the most senior executives at investment banking arm Barclays Capital, got a total of £10.908 million for 2010, including bonuses worth more than £10 million. He was also handed a "long-term" incentive award based on future performance worth a further £3.354 million.

The next highest-paid Barclays member of staff was awarded £10.62 million, while the third best paid got £7.866 million. They received base salaries of £700,000 to £734,000 and up front cash bonuses of around £1 million. The rest of their pay was in the form of deferred shares and other payment plans.

Mr Diamond had been expected to be awarded about £9 million but asked for the mood of public and political anger towards City bonuses to be taken into account. However, the gesture was dismissed by critics, who said it was "bonuses as usual" for those responsible for causing the financial crisis.