
Barclays 'unrepentant' over 'extraordinary' Diamond bonus, say MPs

MPs have heavily criticised Barclays' defence of its bonus programme, labelling former CEO Bob Diamond's £2.7m bonus for 2011 as "absolutely extraordinary".
The chair of Barclays' remuneration committee, Sir John Sutherland, received short shrift from the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards as he defended the bank's practices.
Commission chair Andrew Tyrie said Sutherland appeared unrepentant regarding Diamond's "absolutely extraordinary" bonus.
The latter had told the commission Diamond deserved recognition for his work as Barclays CEO, a position he relinquished last summer at the height of the LIBOR scandal.
Sutherland's predecessor as remuneration committee chair, Alison Carnwath, had earlier told the commission that Barclays' bonuses were at the top end of the scale and that Diamond was reluctant to accept this fact.
Carnwath resigned her position last summer.
Sutherland revealed little about the level of bonus likely to be awarded to new CEO Antony Jenkins, who has promised to clean up the bank's image. He also received criticism from MPs for defending Barclays' practices regarding the sale of payment protection insurance, according to the Financial Times.
More news
Three things your clients may call you about this week …
What made financial headlines over the weekend?
Janus Henderson adjusts pricing approach on £2.8bn Property fund
To promote 'long-term investment'
'Broken platform market' exposed by data from the lang cat
Switching 'hard and expensive'
SJP directed to waive client's exit fees after 'catalogue of errors'
Ombudsman decision
How much does fund size matter?
Smaller funds still packing a punch