One of Britain's richest bankers has landed a record pay package of £63.3million.
The extraordinary deal for Barclays president Bob Diamond sparked a major new row over payouts to banking fat cats.
The sheer size of his salary, perks and shares package flies in the face of assurances that Barclays and other banks have adopted a culture of restraint.
Glittering lifestyle: Bob Diamond, right, with Jade Jagger and her father Mick
MPs reacted with disgust, with one saying the behaviour of bankers had gone beyond all 'comprehension and decency.'
The news suggests the banking sector is still in denial about its culture of excess, even after nearly £1trillion of taxpayer funding was committed to supporting it.
Unlike Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, Barclays has not taken direct injections of cash from the Treasury. But it has benefited from Bank of England guarantees and support for firms' finances.
American-born Mr Diamond, 58, is president of Barclays plc and also runs the investment banking division, Barclays Capital. He has vowed to build the division into a premier-league player rivalling Goldman Sachs.
Mr Diamond is paid £384,000 a year in basic salary and perks, 16 times the national average wage, but that is just the start.
Yesterday the bank's annual report disclosed that he had been awarded a performance-related package of up to 5.56million shares, worth nearly £20million at yesterday's closing price.
He also receives £8.4million in shares from a 2009 incentive package and a £7.7million award from an earlier plan.
To complete the golden harvest, Mr Diamond made a jaw-dropping £26.8million in 2009 from shares in Barclays Global Investors, an investment division that the bank sold for £9.4billion.
Wealthy: Diamond has landed a record pay package of £63.3million
Astonishingly, Mr Diamond could have raked in even more. But he waived his 2009 bonus in what Barclays said was a recognition of the mood of austerity in the nation.
Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle said last night: 'The country as a whole will be disgusted. Far from there being restraint, it looks like the excesses have gone beyond all comprehension and decency.'
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said : 'This particular gentleman is trying to build the biggest investment bank in the world on the back of the taxpayer.'
Gavin Hayes, general secretary of centre-left think-tank Compass, said the government should establish a commission to look into inflated pay packages.
'There can be no turning back to a banking system that rewards reckless speculation over hard work,' he said.
Last month Barclays staff were awarded a total bonus pot of £2.7billion in cash and shares after the bank reported pre-tax profits of £11.6billion. Barclays said the pay-outs had been scaled back to reflect the economic climate.
Chief executive John Varley said at the time: 'I hope you can see a bank that is sensitive to the world'.
Mr Diamond who has earned up to £20million in previous years, urged the public to celebrate his bank's successes, saying the nation should be 'immensely proud'.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has tried to reduce excess in the Square Mile by levying a tax designed to deter banks from paying huge bonuses, but there is little evidence this has had any effect.
It is expected to have raised as much as £2billion for the Treasury, however, after firms went ahead with bumper payments anyway.
Barclays declined to comment on the latest pay packages yesterday but said Mr Diamond had 'built up' the BGI business and so should take some of the benefits from its sale. To receive his full entitlement under the share award plans, he will have to meet a number of performance targets.
Barclays' annual report also revealed that Mr Varley has a pension pot worth a phenomenal £17million, or £619,000 a year.
However, Mr Varley - who is on a basic salary of £1.1million - has opted not to take part in the group's performance-related share plan and also waived his bonus.
Incredibly, the report shows that Barclays' former head of retail and commercial banking Frits Seegers, who was ousted last year in a boardroom cull - will be paid £161,150 a month this year for doing absolutely nothing.
A spokesman for Barclays said the golden goodbye was 'in line with his contract' and would continue to be paid until he finds another job.
The watchdog Financial Services Authority, which regulates Barclays, declined to comment last night, saying it does not discuss individual pay packages. The Treasury said: 'This is a matter for the company'.
Meanwhile Lord Mandelson vowed to put Government pressure on Royal Bank of Scotland after a top executive was handed a pension worth £582,000 a year.
The Business Secretary warned that RBS must be mindful of 'shareholder opinion', and said the Government - the main shareholder - would raise the issue with bank bosses.
The annual pay-out to deputy group chief executive Gordon Pell, who presided over the bank's disastrous collapse two years ago, is higher than the £324,500 a year taken by disgraced former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin, who later agreed to a cut.
- Lloyds yesterday predicted it will return to profit far earlier than previously expected. The bank, which is 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer, believes it will make money this year.
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