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Barclays is proposing a review of how it pays its chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan in a move that would reduce his fixed salary but give him £9m if the lender hits its profitability targets.
The British bank wrote to investors this week outlining plans to change the payment method Venkatakrishnan and group CFO Anna Cross, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The changes, if approved, would see Venkatakrishnan’s fixed salary cut from £2.95m to £1.59m, but the former JPMorgan chief executive would be entitled to bonuses and long-term stock options worth up to eight times his new salary , the person said.
They added that Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, would get about £9 million if Barclays achieved its previously stated target of return on tangible equity — a key measure of the bank’s profitability — of 12 percent by 2026.
His maximum earnings would be capped at just over 14 million pounds, but he would only be awarded that amount if Barclays achieved a return on tangible equity of more than 14 percent, the person said.
Venkatakrishnan’s total remuneration was £4.64m for 2023, down from £5.2m the year before.
The move, which was first reported by Sky News, comes after Barclays took over last year the UK’s first scrap lender the EU-imposed cap on bankers’ bonuses, following the UK’s decision in 2023 to remove restrictions on post-Brexit strengthening of the City of London.
At the time, Barclays told staff it would set up bonuses for its top employees, the so-called material risk takers, up to 10 times more than their fixed salary, while the basic salary remains the same.
Under the bonus cap, which was introduced across the EU in 2014 after the global financial crisis, bonuses are limited to twice the basic salary.
Venkatakrishnan was a rare vocal support chancellor Rachel Reeves, who frustrated many business leaders with a £40 billion tax hike in October’s budget and has so far struggled to revive Britain’s ailing economy.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Venkatakrishnan said there was “a lot to be optimistic about in the UK”, including its financial sector. Reeves also attended the forum in an attempt to woo business leaders and foreign investors.
Barclays said its remuneration committee “meets with stakeholders throughout the year to gather feedback on our remuneration policy”.
“Regardless of whether the board decides to propose any change to the remuneration policy for our current directors in 2025, the policy will continue to focus on rewarding sustained performance and close alignment with shareholder interests.
“The board will publish its views and decisions in the 2024 annual report on February 13.”
