RSS Feed
April 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
James Salmon and Ruth Sunderland
18:30 EST, 11 April 2012
|
18:30 EST, 11 April 2012
Not going hungry: Bob Diamond, Group Chief Executive of Barclays, was paid almost £27million last year
Barclarys boss Bob Diamond will receive millions of pounds on top of his lavish pay and bonus package to cover his tax bills.
The bank has been savaged for writing a ‘blank cheque’ to its controversial American-born chief executive.
Shareholders were already outraged that Barclays covered a £5.75million tax bill run up by Mr Diamond last year, lifting his pay package to almost £27million.
But now it has emerged that the bank has made an open-ended commitment to meet his payments to U.S. tax authorities for as long as he remains in his post.
Barclays said the initial so-called ‘tax equalisation’ payment was made because its boss is taxed twice on the same profits and income.
Mr Diamond relocated from New York to London at the start of last year when he was promoted to chief executive, but he remains a U.S citizen and so is taxed by both countries.
The bank had tried to fend off criticism by claiming the payment was a one-off – but yesterday it confirmed that it would continue to pay Mr Diamond’s tax bill indefinitely, after the Daily Mail spotted statements to that effect in the small print of its 286-page annual report.
Labour Treasury spokesman Chris Leslie said: ‘This staggering payment to Bob Diamond won’t impress other staff at Barclays, never mind the wider public at a time when everyone is being asked to pay their fair share to cover losses as a result of the banking crisis.’
The controversy has brought the bank’s tax affairs into the spotlight yet again, just weeks after it was blocked from using two ‘highly abusive’ tax loopholes to avoid paying £500million.
The bank is notoriously secretive about its corporate tax affairs, refusing to reveal how much it pays the UK taxman on the £1.4billion of profits it generates from personal and business customers in Britain.
Mr Leslie continued: ‘The Government is calling for more transparency over the tax affairs of individuals. But it’s high time Barclays and other large banks put their cards on the table and stopped hiding some of their figures.’
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott accused Barclays of treating taxpayers ‘with complete contempt’.
He added: ‘They should remember they’re based in Canary Wharf, not the Cayman Islands.
‘What right has a British bank, guaranteed by British taxpayers, to keep secret how much corporation tax it pays?
‘Every pound in tax it avoids comes out of all our pockets. We need a dose of strong medicine to cure Barclays’ tax disease – shareholders must stop the blank cheque for Bob Diamond’s tax bills.’
A growing number of shareholders are in revolt over the payments to Mr Diamond. This week, the Association of British Insurers signalled that there are serious concerns for investors when they vote on Barclays’ pay at its annual meeting later this month.
One leading shareholder said: ‘They should be upfront about tax, particularly when Bob Diamond has made a big play of the bank trying to portray itself as a good corporate citizen.’
The ABI also expressed worries over the size of Mr Diamond’s bonus for a period in which he himself admitted there had been an unacceptable failure to hit performance targets. Barclays shares have fallen in value by 70 per cent over the past five years.
Barclays HQ: The bank is based in Canary Wharf, east London, but has 174 offshoots on the tax haven of the Cayman Islands
The comments followed a recent report by campaign group ActionAid, which revealed that Barclays has 174 offshoots on the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.
Richard Murphy, of Tax Research UK, said: ‘There is a pressing need for Barclays and other companies to disclose how much coporation tax they are paying in the UK and how much profit they are channelling to the Cayman Islands.’
He called for Mr Diamond to disclose details of his personal tax affairs. Politicians including the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have recently suggested they are willing to do the same.
‘It is perfectly reasonable for Barclays shareholders to ask for a full breakdown of this payment to Diamond,’ Mr Murphy said.
‘Barclays is a large UK company of public interest and it should enter into the spirit of transparency on personal tax suggested by David Cameron and George Osborne.’
A Barclays spokesman said: ‘Bob Diamond is not a non-dom. He is a UK taxpayer and paid UK income tax on his employment income (that exceeded the higher-rate taxable band) at 50 per cent in 2011.’
He added: ‘Barclays pays all the corporation tax due in all the countries we operate. In 2011 we paid £1.93billion worldwide.’
-
Did Michelle Obama really ban actress Kerry Washington from…
-
Watch out! Astonishing video of California man so distracted…
-
Trial by lynch mob? Fears Zimmerman is ‘already convicted’…
-
Is the president losing weight? Critics claim stress of…
-
No need for a strip search! Woman gets naked in middle of …
-
It’s a dog’s life: Owner of George, the seven foot Great…
-
The suicide forest of Japan: Mount Fuji beauty spot where up…
-
RICHARD KAY: Loyal Harry turns out for Tiggy’s boy at…
-
Life on the edge: Inside the world’s largest STONE forest,…
-
‘I fell to my knees when I saw her’: Mother finds…
-
Gravy-wrestling model hit in the face with monkey wrench…
-
‘This is every parent’s nightmare’: Horror as two USC…
Share this article:
Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have not been moderated.
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
Time for all those who use Barclays to give serious consideration to shifting their accounts and other financial services to one with clearer ethical standards.
Report abuse
Bye bye Barclays
Report abuse
Bye bye Barclays
Report abuse
A clear invitation to all Barclays investors to move their accounts to other banks!!!!
Report abuse
It’s not hard to see what priorities this greedy man has, his own profit out of the job.
That is likely to be the same priorities of leaders in the NHS in five years time. It’s greedy b – – – – – – – ‘s seaon since the coalition took the keys to the kingdom.
Report abuse
If this guy really is the ‘diamond geezer’ Barclays make him out to be, he should either be cloned or David Cameron asked to move over and let him run the country.
Report abuse
He certainly has enough spare cash,obviously, to enable him him to procure a “kitchen dinner” with the illustrious Prime Minister of Britain…..
Report abuse
He certainly has enough spare cash,obviously, to enable him him to procure a “kitchen dinner” with the illustrious Prime Minister of Britain…..
Report abuse
If he has to pay tax twice thats HIS problem …… its HIS GOVERNMENT tax policy……..as a banker he would know about major tax matters like this… he didn’t have to take the job…,. he could have stayed in the US.
If he was a ordinary member of staff you can bet that the bank would not help…….did his fellow board members decided on this gift? Was it written in his contract? Will it be taxed by HMRC as paying his US tax bill would be a “benefit” or “perk” . I bet HMRC does nothing…… He’s laughing all the way to the bank.
Report abuse
Who cares? Really? The man is being taxed twice. How is that fair? He pays the exorbitant UK tax rate plus the lower US tax rate. And, I can guarantee he’s not using any of your hospitals or doctors (his private insurance will cover private care) or sending his kids, if he has any, to tax payer funded schools.
Report abuse
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Posted in 
Tags: 
