Barclays sparked outrage Wednesday as it was accused of trying to 'bury bad news' by revealing bonuses paid to executives on the same day as the UK Budget 2013.

The bank announced details of multimillion-pound bonuses to top bosses including Chief Executive Antony Jenkins and the head of its investment bank, Rich Ricci.

Ricci gained £17.6m after receiving and selling around 5.7m shares awarded under deferred pay arrangements from prior years.

Jenkins, who took over as boss last August,received £5.6m and cashed in £2.9m of this award.

Finance director Chris Lucas received £1.23m and cashed in around £640,000.

Chief Executive of corporate governance consultancy Manifest, Sarah Wilson, criticised Barclays for trying to conceal the bonus payments by releasing details while the City is distracted by the Budget.

"They know everyone is going to be very busy, so releasing the information today is an interesting tactic," she was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

"There's no two ways of looking at it - they would have known the Budget is today."

It comes after the company posted a drop in annual pre-tax profits last month, following a string of scandals over LIBOR rigging and mis-seeling of payment protection insurance.

Related share prices
Barclays (BARC) share price