Barclays bankers bonuses cut after decline in profit

The FTSE 100 bank revealed in its annual report that its staff bonus pool will be £1.2bn, down from £1.9 billion in 2021.

Its net profit decreased by 4% to £1.04bn, from £1.08bn in 2021. Revenue rose 12% to £5.8bn, but this was below the average £6.1bn estimate.

It follows a series of regulatory and compliance scandals in 2022.

In September, Barclays agreed to pay $361mn (£299) to settle charges because it offered $17.7bn (£14.6) worth of products that had not been registered for sale with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, plus £450mn, set aside to compensate investors for the clerical error.

Barclays also set aside $200mn (£165) to settle a US regulatory probe into its employees’ unauthorised use of encrypted messaging apps WhatsApp and Signal.

Its Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan, known in the industry as Venkat, said in pre-recorded video message: “While our performance in 2022 was very gratifying, overall it was marred by the overissuance of securities in the US.” 

“I’m determined that incidents like this should not happen again.”

Venkatakrishnan’s own bonus was cut by £403,000, and finance director Anna Cross was slashed by £166,000.

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He said in the report: CS Venkatakrishnan, Barclays group chief executive, said: “Barclays performed strongly in 2022. Each business delivered income growth, with group income up 14%.

“We are cautious about global economic conditions, but continue to see growth opportunities across our businesses through 2023.”