The criticism from the Institute of Directors (IoD) will bring added pressure on the bank ahead of quarterly financial results on Thursday, which are expected to show profits of £2bn, and a fiery shareholder meeting on Friday.
Simon Walker, director general of the IoD, said bonuses at Barclays were too high and that the bank should not be run "for the benefit of its top executives".
"I think Barclays, overall, is out of order and that includes Bob Diamond. Barclays pays three times more in bonuses to top executives than it does in total dividends to all its shareholders," he said.
Mr Walker added that banking industry pay levels raised "questions" for investors, as he welcomed moves by shareholders to put a brake on the bonuses handed to the chief executives of banks, including Barclays and Citigroup.
"There are encouraging signs that shareholders are taking an activist approach to their ownership responsibilities. Citigroup's rejection of its chief executive's pay award and Barclays' remuneration concessions are two examples."
Barclays will report its financial results for the first three months of the year, which are expected to show the bank made a profit of about £2bn for the period, compared with £1.66bn in 2011. The bank is also expected to say it has set aside hundreds of millions of pounds for new payment protection insurance claims.
The bank will be hoping the improved profits help calm investor anger over the £17.7m package awarded to Mr Diamond.
The Barclays board is facing the prospect of a shareholder revolt over the award. In particular, shareholders have been angered by a controversial £5.75m "tax equalisation" payment made by the bank to cover the cost of a tax bill incurred by Mr Diamond when he relocated from New York to London to take charge of the bank at the start of last year.
Barclays last week offered a concession to investors, saying it would subject half of Mr Diamond's bonus from 2011 to an additional hurdle that will mean he will not get that portion of the award if the bank's return on equity does not exceed its cost of equity.
Despite this, some investors are still planning to vote against the bank's remuneration report at its annual general meeting on Friday. About 15pc of shareholders are expected to vote against the report and the re-election of Alison Carnwath as chairman of its remuneration committee.
Threadneedle Investments, which holds a 0.4pc stake in Barclays, said at the weekend it would vote against the pay report, adding its name to a list that includes Fidelity and Scottish Widows
Source: Bob Diamond's £17.7m package at Barclays is 'out of order', says IoD chief Simon Walker - Telegraph
I've been posting about this for years and was called commie!
Now IoD chief says the same thing - guess he must a commie also!
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