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Is Bob Diamond worth 22 million quid?

27 March 2007 1 comment

Retired member

Interesting blog on the BBC site about Bob Diamond's hefty 22 million earnings for the last year, or rather the comments on the blog are interesting. He's head of Barclays investment banking service which has been doing rather well of late, but is he worth this much?

As you might expect, there's a bit of a kerfuffle about it and overall it's another bad day for the public image of banks.

I've heard the argument that the market will pay you what you are worth for the benefits you bring to the company. I'm not convinced. And it's a shame the same arguments don't seem to be trotted out when we're discussing teachers' or NHS staff pay. What is it worth to the nation to save or transform lives anyway?

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Comments: (1)

Matt White North America editor at Finextra

28 March 2007

The vast majority of Diamond's pay comes in bonuses. His basic wage is about £250,000.

The bank's annual report states that “Barclays policy is to use reward to drive a high-performance culture”.

The recent BBC documentary, blogged on by Paul Penrose, revealed that much of the mis-selling and dubious practices carried out by the bank's employees is due to a culture of targets and bonuses.

I'm not accusing Diamond of any dodgy practice but when a company relies so heavily on bonuses and commision to get results there is a danger that ethics go out of the window.

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