Jes Staley leaves Barclays: CEO exits bank after shock report on Epstein links

Embattled Barclays chief Jes Staley has left his post over his ties with with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Staley will leave his role as chief executive of the bank with immediate effect after a probe into his links with Epstein suggested he mischaracterised the relationship to his employer and UK regulators.

The bank’s board said it was “disappointed” with the outcome of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) report into his connection with Epstein.

The bank said it was made aware on Friday night of the preliminary conclusions from the FCA’s investigation, but did not go into details.

Barclays shares declined 1.6 per cent this morning to 198p.

Staley said he intends to contest the findings and Barclays pointed out that the investigation makes no findings that the now-former Barclays boss saw, or was aware of, any of Epstein’s alleged crimes.

He will be replaced by the bank’s head of global markets, C S Venkatakrishnan, from today.

The bank praised Staley’s leadership, navigating the lender through turbulent times which included court cases for ex-traders accused of rate-rigging.

Barclays this morning said Staley “has run the Barclays Group successfully since December 2015 with real commitment and skill. Supported by the senior team which he largely helped build and on whom the Barclays Group will be relying for the future, Mr Staley clarified the Barclays Group’s strategy, transformed its operations and materially improved its results”.

Staley will get a £2.5m farewell, keeping all his contracted remuneration, and will continue to receive other benefits for a year, the bank said.

The American banker will also be eligible to receive repatriation costs to the US.