Barclays wants to hand its £10.5million fat cat boss a potential huge increase - arguing he isn’t paid enough at the moment.

Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan's pay and perks package more than doubled last year, the bank’s annual report revealed. The payout included more than £7m in bonuses, on top of a £3m annual salary. It meant Mr Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, raked in 183 times what an average group-wise Barclays worker earned, and 263 times that of a typical employee in its lowest quarter got.

Despite that, Barclays has asked shareholder approval to change its boardroom pay rules that could mean he, and other top executives at the bank, get even more. The bank argued what he receives at the moment is “uncompetitive” compared with other global banking chiefs.

It follows the lifting of a bonus cap put in place in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to try to deter reckless risk taking. Barclays says, were the cap not in place, Mr Venkatakrishnan’s package could have been as much as £17m. He has already earned £21.2m since 2021.

In its annual report, Barclays said: “The uncompetitive pay positioning compared to market would likely cause significant challenges if we were faced with a succession scenario”. Barclays is proposing to reduce Mr Venkatakrishnan’s annual salary to £1.6million, but increase his potential annual bonus to 250% of that , and a long-term reward scheme as much as five and a half times his salary.

Luke Hildyard, executive director of think tank the High Pay Centre, said: “The £10m for the Barclays CEO and the £1.2billion spent on a few hundred investment bankers epitomise the inequality in the UK economy. Excess at the top contrasts with much wider hardship across a country plagued by stagnant growth and the aftermath of the cost of living crisis.”

It came as Barclays saw profits surge almost a quarter to £8.1bn last year, fuelled by bumper trading in its investment banking division. Barclays’ UK arm also did well, with profits nearly doubling to £1.1bn in the last three months of 2024 alone.

Yet it came as Barclays ploughed ahead with a branch closure programme, with another 85 shutting last year, taking its total down to just 221. That is in addition to 157 that closed in 2023, with more closures planned for this year.The UK arm also enjoyed a boost from taking control of Bank’s savings, loans and credit cards last year. Barclays also set aside £90m to cover the cost of compensation amid a brewing scandal over potentially mis-sold car finance.

Barclays is the first major UK bank to report profits for 2024, with NatWest following on Friday and Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC next week.

READ MORE: