Russian oligarchs lose £23.5bn as Ukraine crisis deepens Business

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Barclays has revealed it is suspending payment of stock awards to its former boss Jes Staley amid ongoing investigations into his relationship with late sex offender Jeffery Epstein.

Mr Staley, who left the FTSE 100 bank in November, was treated as a ‘good starter’.

At the time, it was announced that he would pocket an annual payment of £2.4 million in cash and shares, plus a retirement allowance of £120,000 and other benefits.

He owns 5.7m shares worth around £10m and was also entitled to 11.4m shares worth £22.5m if the bank hit its goals in the years to come. The frozen awards are believed to include a 2019 bonus subject to performance between 2019 and 2021. It was worth up to £3.3million.

Barclays said nearly 70% of Mr Staley’s variable pay remained unvested, adding that it had not made any further decisions on the former boss’s pay.

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What happened overnight

Stocks mostly rose on Wednesday and oil prices stabilized as investors followed developments in Ukraine. At the start of trading, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were all in positive territory. Singapore and Manila slipped and Tokyo was closed for vacation.

coming today

• Business : Aston Martin Lagonda, Barclays, Capital & County Properties, Hochschild Mining, Rio Tinto, Unite Group (annual results); Ted Baker (commercial update)
• Economy: Bank of England Monetary Policy Report Hearings (UK)