If there was any remaining doubt that the lot of the modern general counsel at a major bluechip is a challenging but increasingly well rewarded role, news last month of a controversial bonus round at Barclays should put that to rest.
The bank announced on 20 March that it was awarding nine executives a total of £40.2m in shares, with outgoing group general counsel Mark Harding receiving shares worth over £3.7m.
The awards, which were made under a long-term incentive plan, saw Harding handed 1.224 million shares, valued at 308.1p each, representing £3.7m. Harding also sold 1.18 million shares, equating to £3.64m.
The payments by one of the UK’s major lenders include an additional number of shares that have built up since March 2010. Barclays’ filings show that the bank last year awarded Harding £1.14m in shares.
Harding announced his decision to leave the bank in early February after ten years at Barclays, a period in which he has established a profile as one of the most prominent GCs in Europe. His departure has led to the start of a recruitment process to find a replacement to lead Barclays’ 200-lawyer in-house team.
The awards – which were announced on the same day as the Budget – have already proved controversial given Barclays’ well-publicised recent scrapes with regulators. Rich Ricci, Barclays’ investment banking chief, received almost half of the total £40m share windfall, gaining £17.6m worth of shares. Chief executive Antony Jenkins was given £5.6m in shares and sold £2.9m of them.
The level of remuneration on offer to Harding reflects the increasing premium that risk-adverse bluechips are putting on securing top-level lawyers for GC roles. This has been particularly pronounced in the banking sector, which has been hit by a wall of regulation since the credit crunch hit in 2007.
Such largesse will widen the field of potential candidates that Barclays can attract to replace Harding, who joined the firm from Clifford Chance, with some expecting the bank to turn to a top-level finance partner at a Magic Circle firm.
For more see “With the territory“