Barclays Must Pay Big Bonuses To Prevent 'Death Spiral', CEO Antony Jenkins Says

Barclays needed to pay its top bankers bigger bonuses in order to avoid investment bankers quitting and sending the bank into a "death spiral", according to chief executive Antony Jenkins.

The Barclays boss made his stark warning as he defended the bank's decision to increase bonuses by up to £200 million in 2013, despite falling profits and up to 12,000 jobs being axed.

Jenkins insisted that the bank's decision to increase bonuses would be a "one-off" and would not be repeated if profits continued to slide. The chief executive said that he made the move in order to stop Barclays' investment bank from shrinking.

RBC leads big bonus parade for Canadian banks

Canada’s banks have set aside $10.3 billion for bonuses, a 7.5 per cent increase over last year, bucking the global trend toward pay cuts and even job losses on Wall Street and in London.

From tellers to investment bankers, the individual payouts in Canada can range from a few hundred dollars to millions, according to industry experts.

Still, the days of the really big payouts followed by year-end spending binges may be moderating, some industry experts said.