LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Barclays ( JJCTF ) has become

the latest bank to substantially raise a cap on bonuses for its

top bankers, an internal memo seen by Reuters showed on

Thursday.

The lender's senior bankers will now be able to earn payouts

of up to 10 times their base salary, up from a two-to-one ratio

previously imposed by the European Union back in 2014 when the

UK was a member.

"The revised bonus cap will not alter the way Barclays ( JJCTF ) sets

its incentive pool, which is based on overall Group

performance," a spokesperson for the bank, who confirmed the

contents of the memo, said.

"It will allow us greater flexibility to differentiate

individual bonuses within a small and defined group of

colleagues," he added.

The change only applies to so-called material risk takers

(MRTs), a regulatory designation for a class of employees whose

activities could have a big impact on a firm.

It will not impact MRTs in the bank's Irish-based entity

which manages its European operations, who remain subject to the

EU cap, the memo said.

Banks including Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and JPMorgan ( JPM ) have already made

similar moves to their variable compensation structures for

their top UK-based bankers.

Barclays ( JJCTF ) shareholders voted in favour of a proposal by the

bank to amend the cap at its shareholder meeting this year.

The EU originally set the restrictions on pay in an effort

to curb excess risk-taking at banks following the 2008 financial

crisis.

Britain's financial regulators confirmed last October they

would give banks under their supervision greater freedoms to pay

higher bonuses, in a bid to increase the competitiveness of the

country's financial sector.