Jes Staley (63), Barclays boss exit over Epstein inquiry

 

Jes Staley Barclays boss has quit in a shock exit after a probe into his links with sex offender late Jeffrey Epstein.

The City watchdog and Bank of England have been investigating if Mr Staley’s relationship to the dead financier was close than first thought.

Regulators began investigating after getting a cache of emails between the men from Mr Staley’s former employer.

Before joining Barclays Staley, a married father-of-two was an executive at US Bank JP Morgan, where Epstein, who took his own life in 2019 while in prison, was already a client.

Epstein, who was convicted of trafficking a minor for prostitution in 2008 and served 13 months in custody, cultivated contact with the rich and powerful including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Even Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has spoken of his huge mistake in spending time with Epstein while Leon Black stood down from US private equity firm Apollo Global management over his links.

Staley had already admitted he maintained contact with Epstein for about seven years after his 2008 conviction, and also visited Little St James, a retreat owned by Epstein in the US Virgin Islands in 2015, months before taking the top job at Barclays.

Barclays said  it was “made aware on Friday evening of the preliminary conclusions from the FCA and the PRA of their investigation into Mr Staley’s characterisation to Barclays of his relation with the late Mr Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclay’s response to the FCA”.

In 2018, Mr Staley was fined £642, 430 by the FCA and PRA for trying to unmask a whistleblower who has raised concerns about a senior executive appointment at the bank’s US operation. Mr Staley will receive 12 months’ pay totalling £2.4m as well as his pension allowance of £120, 000 for the year, and any other benefits. He will be replaced as CEO by Mr C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, subject to regulatory approval.