Another sign that pay has plummeted for Barclays bankers on Wall Street?

Has something bad happened to pay at Barclays on Wall Street? We're just asking because as we reported a few weeks ago, the proportion of Barclays' staff earning more than £1m ($1.47m) who are based in the US has fallen.  This might have been dismissed as higher pay in London, or fewer staff on Seventh Avenue - except we now have another ominous indicator suggesting pay at Barclays in NYC is an outlier compared to pay elsewhere in the organization.

The issue is highlighted in yesterday's Barclays' investor release on shares issued to Barclays' directors as part of the 2014 compensation round. Tom King, head of the investment bank, was rewarded most handsomely for 2014, with 1.86m shares worth £4.7m.

That sounds generous, except that Skip McGee - the former head of Barclays US business who quit last year following a power struggle with King, was awarded £8.8m in shares for 2013. In other words, now that McGee's gone, Barclays' stock awards seem to have been re-based downwards and any US Barclays bankers who had their pay aligned to McGee's will look overpaid compared to King.

The only hope is that Barclays' is making up for its diminished stock bonuses with higher base pay and 'role-based allowances'.