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By Steve Slater
LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Rich Ricci, the head ofBarclays' investment bank, has sold shares worth more than 17million pounds ($25.7 million) straight after receiving them aspart of previous deferred bonuses or long-term awards.
Barclays said on Wednesday Ricci was awarded 5.7 millionshares on Monday and had sold them all when the shares werepriced at 308.1 pence, valuing the stake at 17.6 million pounds.Barclays shares have fallen through this week and closed onWednesday at 295.2p.
Ricci's pay does not have to be disclosed as he is not onthe board, but he has long been one of the highest paid peopleat Barclays. He was paid 10.6 million pounds and awarded sharesworth another 17.3 million pounds for 2010 alone.
Ricci did not get a bonus for last year after Barclays wasfined $450 million for rigging Libor interest rates, but isexpected to have received 1.5 million pounds for last year,including 700,000 pounds in salary and 800,000 in long-termshare awards.
There has been speculation he will not stay at Barclays asnew chief executive Antony Jenkins overhauls the bank.
Ricci joined Barclays in 1994 and led its acquisition ofLehman Brothers in 2008, becoming co-head of investment bankingin 2009 and sole head of corporate and investment banking lastJune.
He owns a number of top racehorses based in Ireland,including many that ran at last week's prestigious Cheltenhamfestival in England. One horse is named Fatcatinthehat.
Ricci was one of nine directors to receive shares, and oftenabout half of them are sold to cover taxes. Jenkins, who tookover as CEO at the end of August, received shares worth about5.6 million pounds, and sold just over half.
Tom Kalaris, head of wealth and investment management,cashed in all the shares he was awarded, worth 5.5 millionpounds.
Barclays said the share awards included deferred sharesawarded from previous years' annual bonuses and the vesting oflong-term incentive plans. Under its deferred plan a third ofshares are paid each year over three years - so Ricci's bonusesdate back to 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Barclays said all its future short- and long-term shareawards would be based on new principles it set out in its annualreport, released on March 8.
It said then that a new performance assessment would bebased on delivering performance consistent with values Jenkinshas set out to rebuild Barclays' reputation.
