Barclays increased average bonus payments for some of its top staff in the division housing its investment bank, despite regulatory calls for restraint on pay at UK lenders.

The average bonus payment for so-called material risk takers — senior employees whose behaviour influences the risk profile of the bank — within Barclays International increased by 14% to around £636,000, according to analysis of figures provided in the bank's annual results. Barclays International, which comprises its corporate and investment bank as well as its cards and payments unit, was buoyed by record performance in the UK lender's sales and trading and advisory businesses.