Barclays' Diamond gets 21 million pounds in pay and bonus

LONDON (Reuters) - Bob Diamond, head of investment banking at Barclays, received pay and shares worth over 21 million pounds last year, just down on 2006 but putting him among Europe's highest-paid bankers.

Barclays said Diamond was paid 6.8 million pounds in salary and bonus last year, down from 10.7 million in 2006 as growth in Barclays Capital and other units he runs slowed from previous years.

But Barclays' (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) annual report, released on Wednesday, showed Diamond is in line to receive more in share awards.

He will receive shares worth up to 11.4 million pounds under an executive share award scheme, up from a share award of up to 4.5 million pounds in 2006. The schemes require executives to stay at the bank for five years for the full amount.

He could also receive 3 million pounds from a performance share plan, depending on how Barclays shares perform in the next three years.

Diamond's annual base salary has remained at 250,000 pounds since 1999, but his bonus structure is different from that of other directors to reflect the practice in investment banking.

In 2006 his pay, bonus and shares package was worth 22 million pounds, with just under half in shares. Shares represent 64 percent of the 2007 award.

Diamond is group president and runs the investment banking, wealth management and asset management arms, which have fuelled the bank's growth in recent years, but last year BarCap's profit growth slowed to 5 percent from 55 percent in 2006.

Diamond's pay eclipses that of Chief Executive John Varley, whose 2007 pay and shares could reach 4.2 million pounds, down from 4.4 million in 2006. Varley's salary and cash bonus for 2007 dipped to 2.4 million pounds, added to by up to 1.8 million pounds in shares under the executive and performance share award plans.