Barclays Capital has followed rival banks in capping cash bonuses for its staff – at £65,000 this year – and has also hiked the deferred proportion of its bonus pool for 2011, after its performance in the fourth quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations.

The UK investment banking arm of Barclays, which reported its annual results this morning, also slashed the size of its bonus pool by one-third (32%) compared with the previous year. The bank set aside £1.5bn for its 24,000 staff in 2011.