Personal Loan

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – New Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond told British legislators Tuesday that he is not in favor of government bailing out badly run banks. Instead, mismanaged banks should be allowed to fail, Diamond said to the Treasury Select Committee.

MPs also took advantage of Diamond’s appearance to probe further into bankers’ bonuses, a current hot topic in Britain. The chief executive, who headed the firm’s investment banking arm Barclays Capital for 14 years, acknowledged the help of taxpayers’ money which propped up the sagging banks through a bailout.

He said bankers are aware of their negative public image because of the huge executive compensation packages and yearly bonuses, while the rest of Britons are tightening their belt. Diamond has yet to decide if he would accept or decline his 2010 bonus, reportedly at $12 million (GBP 8 million pounds). He was forced to waive his bonuses in 2008 and 2009 because of Barclays’ bailout.

The British coalition government may allow banks such as Barclays to pay executives their 2010 bonuses if they lend at least $300 billion (GBP 200 billion) to small businesses this year and provide more information on pay.

As Barclays chief executive, Diamond enjoys a $2.025 million (GBP 1.35 million) salary, a yearly bonus of up to 2.5 times his pay and long-term share-related deals equal to five times his salary. However, it is lesser than his compensation as head of Barclays Capital, which had complex performance-related pay deals that earned Diamond almost $105 million (GBP 70 million) in just four years.

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