Barclays millionaires

Barclays has revealed that 428 of its staff worldwide earned more than a million pounds last year.

It says it is the first bank to publish detailed information on the pay of all its employees. Many are likely to be working in investment banking and an undisclosed number would be in the US or elsewhere.

Barclays has been caught up in a series of scandals, from the attempted rigging of the Libor interbank interest rate to mis-selling Payment protection insurance - so the disclosure of so many staff getting over a million pounds is bound to stir up controversy.

The bank points out that the 428 total is down ten per cent from 2011 and that those earning over 5 million pounds are down from 17 to 5.

71,000 are on less than £25,000.

The information is being made public after Barclays appointed a senior banking figure, Sir David Walkers as chairman.

He'd previously recommended that all banks come clean about pay to high flyers.

Barclays has also given more detail on how its bonus pool has been reduced to reflect the various scandals the bank has been involved in.

We already knew the bonus pool for 2012 was £2.168bn, down from £2.578bn in 2011.

Now we learn that it was reduced by £290m for the Libor affair and by £570m for PPI and interest rate swaps.

There was also a 10% reduction to reflect that they are trying to bring down total pay.

Mervyn condemns bank bonus ruse

The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King has condemned investment banks in the City of London for considering a delay in bonus payment to avoid 50% top rate tax and take advantage of the cut to 45%.

Giving evidence to MPs in the Treasury Select Committee, Sir Mervyn said it was "depressing" that people who earn so much could consider such a move, "knowing that this must have an impact on the rest of society".

He said it would be "clumsy" and "lacking in care and attention" and pointed out that financial institutions depend on goodwill from the rest of society.

It has been reported that Goldman Sachs and other investment banks have been considering plans to delay bonus payments in the UK to take advantage of the cut in top rate tax which applies from April.

What Mervyn said:
"It's clearly not unlawful. I find it a bit depressing that people who earn so much seem to think that it's
even more exciting to adjust the timing of it to get the benefit of the lower tax rate, knowing this must have an impact on the rest of society, when even now it is the rest of society that is suffering most from the consequences of the financial crisis.

"I think it would be rather clumsy, lacking in care and attention to how other people might be. And in the long run, financial institutions, like all large institutions, do depend on good will and the rest of society. They can't just exist on their own."

More pain for savers

Banks and building societies are withdrawing special bonus rates for savers, leaving them struggling to find a decent return for their money.

Savings accounts often come with a first year bonus of around 1%, to add to the normal interest rate, to attract new customers.

But the number of easy access accounts offering bonuses has fallen from 73 to 46 since August last year. The number of notice accounts with bonus rates has more than halved: only 11 remain.

The financial information firm, Moneyfacts, blames the government's new Funding for Lending scheme, which is channelling cheap money to banks to encourage them to lend.

There's already been a drop in the underlying rates of interest on offer to savers.