Barclays exec pay drops 99 pct as banks scrap bonuses

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays' investment bank chief Bob Diamond saw his pay slump 99 percent to 250,000 pounds ($366,500) last year from over 21 million in 2007 as rewards for executives at three of Europe's top banks more than halved.

Diamond has been one of the top earners in European banking but was one of the biggest losers in terms of his take-home pay as the industry slashed executive pay in one of banking's worst years since World War II.

Annual reports from Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Barclays published on Tuesday showed they paid their executive board members $108.5 million last year, down 54 percent from 2007.

Most was paid by Credit Suisse, whose executive board received 106.7 million Swiss francs ($95 million), down from 162.1 million in 2007.

Kai Nargolwala, Credit Suisse's head of Asia Pacific, was paid 20.8 million francs under the terms of his contract after he was poached from Standard Chartered in 2007.

All three banks scrapped bonuses for top management.

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann earned 1.4 million euros ($1.9 million), down 90 percent from 2007.

Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan also earned 90 percent less, with pay of 2.9 million Swiss francs ($2.6 million).

Diamond, one of Europe's best paid bankers, suffered the steepest drop. His direct pay of 250,000 pounds was down 99 percent from a year earlier when it was topped up with a cash bonus, deferred share award or long-term incentive award.

To cushion the blow he did receive 7.4 million pounds in cash and shares with an indicative value of 22 million pounds in 2008 that were awarded in previous years.

The value of his total Barclays shareholding however slumped by almost 50 million pounds to 23.5 million following a 69 percent fall in the stock during 2008.

Barclays CEO John Varley's direct pay in 2008 fell to 1.1 million pounds from 4.2 million. The value of his pension rose by 2.9 million pounds during the year to 12.3 million.

Frits Seegers, head of retail and international banking, received 2.3 million pounds including a 1.6 million pound long-term incentive award.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Jucca in Zurich; Editing by David Holmes and Elaine Hardcastle)