NYSE News

LONDON, March 20 (UPI) -- The president of British-based Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Capital has been awarded a pay package worth as much as $90 million, officials said.

Bob Diamond's package is based on a $580,000 annual salary, but through a combination of stock incentives and bonuses he could earn more than 150 times that amount, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

Diamond earned $40 million last year through selling his shares in Barclay's Global Investors, said Barclays annual report, released Friday.

Diamond, 58, also received $9 million in Barclays shares last year, with the possibility of earning an additional $18 million during the next two years if performance targets are reached.

Diamond also made more than $22 million recently from bonuses he was awarded in 2005 under a long-term incentive plan, the annual report said.

Lindsay Hoyle, a Labor member in parliament, said the enormous pay package showed compensation for some bankers had exceeded decency.

"The country as a whole will be disgusted," Hoyle said.

CUPERTINO, Calif., March 20 (UPI) -- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Inc. is racing to secure media content for its new iPad with hundreds of thousands of units pre-sold and soon to be released, officials said.

Apple is trying to convince more potential collaborators to offer television programs, digital newspapers and other content for downloading to the device, scheduled for release April 3, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The media interests are weighing the advantages of working with Apple against potential threats to their current sources of revenue, industry experts told the Journal.

Apple is tempering some of its initial ambitions for the tablet-style device amid reports consumer interest in the iPad is so strong that Apple could sell more iPads in the first three months than it sold iPhones in the three months after the smartphone's debut, analysts said.

Apple officials declined to comment, the Journal said.

Apple is touting the new 9.7-inch touch-screen device as a revolutionary product that would let people play games, surf the Internet, watch video, and read books and newspapers.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- Seven banks closed in Georgia, Utah, Ohio, Minnesota and Alabama brought the number of U.S. bank (NYSE:USB) failures to 37 so far this year, regulators said.

The banks closed Friday included three in Georgia: Century Security Bank (OOTC:SBKCQ) , Bank of Hiawassee and Appalachian Community Bank.

Their assets and deposits were assumed by other banks, though regulators said they could not find another institution willing to assume the $1.5 billion in deposits held by Advanta Bank Corp.

Draper, the Utah-based unit of Advanta, was seized Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. Depositors with insured funds of $250,000 or less were expected to receive their checks Monday. The bank had an estimated $247,000 in uninsured deposits and was expected to cost the FDIC insurance fund $635.6 million, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Elsewhere, state regulators closed State Bank of Aurora in Minnesota, First Lowndes Bank in Alabama and American National Bank in Ohio. Other banks have agreed to assume their assets and deposits, MarketWatch reported.