LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - British bank Barclays will pay up to 2.4 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in bonuses tostaff for 2013, Sky News said, a year when it asked shareholdersfor nearly 6 billion pounds to bolster capital, and an 11percent rise from 2012.
Barclays will release pay details alongside annual resultson Tuesday, and Sky said it will pay between 2.3 billion poundsand 2.4 billion pounds in incentive awards.
Barclays declined to comment.
A rise in bonuses at the bank could provoke a backlash frompoliticians and a public angered that banks are not reining incompensation. Excessive pay has been blamed for encouragingrisk-taking and contributing to the 2008/2009 financial crisis.
Sky said Barclays is expected to defend the increase inbonuses by pointing to a robust performance by its investmentbank in the United States and the threat it will lose its topstaff there to its Wall Street rivals.
Barclays paid 1.85 billion pounds in bonuses across the bankin 2012, with 1.3 billion of that going to its investment bankstaff. The total figure for incentive awards was topped up bycommissions and other payments.
The 2012 bonus pool was 14 percent smaller than 2011 asBarclays said it was cutting pay to get the right balancebetween incentivising staff and the needs of other stakeholders.
Compensation in 2012 represented 38 percent of revenueacross the bank, and 39 percent in the investment bank. Thatratio is expected to rise as 2013 investment bank revenues areexpected to be down on 2012 levels.
With the bonus season in full swing, payouts across themajor banks have mostly been flat to slightly lower, althoughsome firms are raising pay. Swiss bank UBS increasedits 2013 bonus pool by 28 percent after a cut in 2012.
Bonuses paid by EU banks for 2014 will be capped at 100percent of salary, or twice that with shareholder approval.Banks are expected to raise fixed pay and reduce bonuses to meetthe rule.