LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays Plc is considering revamping its pay structure to work around newEuropean rules that cap bonuses for senior staff, a personfamiliar with the matter said.
The bank may give senior staff an additional monthly cashsum - on top of base pay and variable bonuses - which would bereserved for those occupying specific risk-taking roles.
The payment, which would not be included in pensioncalculations, would help the bank control its fixed costs whilekeeping within proposed new European Union rules, the personsaid on Wednesday.
Staff would forego the premium payment if they moved to arole not designated as a key risk-taking function.
The source said the bank is still discussing the proposalswith investors and no decision had been made whether to go aheadwith the plan.
From the start of next year, new EU rules will limit thebonus of senior staff to twice their fixed pay in an attempt tocurb excessive payouts and risk-taking which critics blame forhelping trigger the financial crisis of 2008-9.
The UK government and many banks in London have opposed thecurbs, saying it will force up fixed salaries, provides lessscope to claw back pay and could see staff join rivals notconstrained by the rules.
The EU has said the cap will apply to risk-taking staff andis finalising rules on which staff will be affected, typicallythose earning more than 500,000 euros a year.
The rules are expected to extend beyond the currentdefinition of "code staff" in Britain, which covers all peoplein significant risk-facing positions.
UK banks had about 1,300 code staff last year, including 393at Barclays, which is expected to be the most severely affectedby the clampdown on bonuses because of its big investment bank.
Barclays declined to comment.