Barclays defers bonus payments

Barclays is to defer paying 2009 bonuses to directors and senior staff for up to three years, the BBC has reported.
The bank is still calculating last year’s bonus pot, which it says will be paid mostly in shares between now and the end of 2013.
According to the BBC, the scheme will be adopted as formal policy and staff will be advised of the details in the next few weeks; final bonus figures are expected in March.
At the height of the financial crisis in October of 2008, Barclays chose to raise money from Middle Eastern investors rather than opt for a government bail out.
The move left the group more leeway on its remuneration policy than the rescued RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.
However, Barclays did benefit from Treasury guarantees put in place at the time to prevent the collapse of the UK financial system.
In related news, last week saw a surprise development in the row over bankers’ bonuses and their link to the high levels of risk taking that led to the credit crisis.
President Barak Obama effectively declared war on Wall Street, saying that he intends to curb the riskier activities of US banks, such as the proprietary trading that makes billions of dollars for investment banks and result in huge bonuses for traders.
Barclays’ share price, along with that of RBS, fell sharply on the announcement.