Jes Staley, CEO, Barclays Plc
Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
LONDON — Barclays CEO Jes Staley will stand down following an investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the financial institution mentioned in an announcement Monday.
C.S. Venkatakrishnan (often called Venkat) will take over as chief govt with fast impact, topic to regulatory approval, it added.
Barclays and Staley “had been made conscious on Friday night of the preliminary conclusions” of a probe by the U.Ok.’s Monetary Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, Barclays mentioned.
It added that the investigation was into “Mr Staley’s characterisation to Barclays of his relationship with the late Mr Jeffrey Epstein and the next description of that relationship in Barclays’ response to the FCA.”
“In view of these conclusions, and Mr Staley’s intention to contest them, the Board and Mr Staley have agreed that he’ll step down from his function as Group Chief Govt and as a director of Barclays,” the financial institution mentioned.
Shares of Barclays financial institution had been buying and selling 1.2% decrease Monday morning after the announcement
The financial institution mentioned the investigation “makes no findings that Mr Staley noticed, or was conscious of, any of Mr Epstein’s alleged crimes, which was the central query underpinning Barclays’ help for Mr Staley following the arrest of Mr Epstein in the summertime of 2019.”
Billionaire financier Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on youngster sex-trafficking fees but hanged himself a month later in a Manhattan federal jail.
Staley’s hyperlinks to the useless financier have been the topic of an investigation by the U.Ok.’s monetary watchdog and Financial institution of England’s regulatory authority. Barclays mentioned that the “regulatory course of nonetheless has to run its full course and it’s not applicable for Barclays to remark additional on the preliminary conclusions” of the investigation.
Venkat as CEO
Relating to the appointment of Venkat, Barclays mentioned its board “has had succession planning in hand for a while, together with reviewing potential exterior appointees, and recognized Venkat as its most popular candidate for this function over a yr in the past, on account of which he moved from the place of Group Chief Danger Officer to Head of International Markets.”
Barclays mentioned it was assured that underneath his management, the financial institution “will proceed its strategic path and enhance efficiency in step with the progress of latest years.”
Previous to becoming a member of Barclays in 2016, Staley labored at JP Morgan Chase from 1994, holding senior roles in asset administration and funding banking.
Epstein’s contacts
Any former affiliation with Epstein is now proving poisonous for a wide range of high-profile individuals.
Epstein’s shut affiliate and former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is herself awaiting trial on fees that she recruited underage ladies to be sexually abused by Epstein. She denies the costs.
One among Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, has claimed that Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, had sex with her when she was underage and within the clutches of Epstein and Maxwell. Prince Andrew denies the allegations.
Epstein can also be recognized to have socialized with former U.S. presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, each of whom have sought to distance themselves from Epstein, insisting they knew nothing of his crimes.
Susannah Streeter, senior funding and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented on Monday that “‘the repercussions from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal stretch far and huge, and now Barclays finds itself on the centre of the storm.”
“Whereas the probe didn’t centre on Mr Staley’s function at Barclays however what he disclosed about his earlier place at JP Morgan, what was underneath query was how he characterised his former relationship with the disgraced financier,” she mentioned in a observe.
“It is understood Mr Staley will contest the conclusions, and clearly the board need to distance Barclays from what could possibly be an extended drawn out course of.”
