BARCLAYS’ CHIEF executive Bob Diamond has been confirmed as the UK’s best paid bank boss despite receiving a smaller than expected £6.5 million bonus for last year.

The payout, confirmed by Barclays in its remuneration report, is below the £9 million that Mr Diamond was reportedly in line to receive and includes no upfront cash.

The announcement comes weeks after the UK’s biggest banks agreed to rein in bonuses and to lend £190 billion to businesses this year at the end of the so-called Project Merlin talks with the government.

Mr Diamond, who took up the top post at Barclays in January, received £250,000 base salary last year, which means his total pay package overtook his peer at HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, who received combined pay of £6.2 million, including bonus.

In line with the Project Merlin agreements, Barclays published details of its top five highest paid senior executive officers, excluding directors such as Mr Diamond.

The report also confirmed John Varley, Mr Diamond’s predecessor, was awarded a £2.2 million bonus on top of his £1.65 million salary.

Mr Diamond, who recently told MPs that the time for “remorse and apology” in relation to the banking crisis needed to be over, was previously chief executive of Barclays Capital, the bank’s investment banking arm, before taking over from Mr Varley at the start of this year.

In his new job, Mr Diamond receives an annual salary of £1.35 million, up from the £250,000 he was paid every year since 1999, with a potential annual bonus of up to £3.375 million.

Mr Diamond is also entitled to long-term performance-based incentive shares worth £6.75 million next year.