Barclays Plc awarded CEO Robert Diamond an $11 million bonus, bringing his 2010 remuneration to $16.5mn.  He will not follow the lead of UBS CEO Oswald Gruebel, who on Friday, declined to take a 2010 bonus even though the Swiss bank was profitable.  Mr. Diamond is in line to receive a further bonus of $3.6mn depending on the bank's performance.  He's also getting a large boost in base salary - all this in spite of the U.K.'s push for banks to curb pay.  

Just last month, Mr. Diamond, 59, told lawmakers that his bank - which didn’t receive direct government aid - would exercise restraint when paying bonuses and that was time for firms to end "the period of remorse and apology" and start boosting confidence. 

"Diamond tries to convince taxpayers that the era of remorse and regret within banking is over, yet he has no shame in pocketing a seven-figure bonus.  There is no possible justification for this highly paid individual taking home this enormous windfall."  -- trade union exec Len McCluskey.

While Diamond’s bonus exceeds those of his counterparts at RBS, Lloyds and HSBC, his bonus trails those paid to his U.S. competitors - including JPM's Jamie Dimon, Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein.

It's interesting to note that Barclays' highest-paid executive - was awarded over $23mn -  is not an executive director.   [Bloomberg, 3/7]