: Barclays CEO Jes Staley to Step Down Amid Epstein Probe #WorldNEWS Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley is stepping down amid a U. K. regulatory probe into how he characterized his ties

Barclays CEO Jes Staley to Step Down Amid Epstein Probe #WorldNEWS
Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley is stepping down amid a U. K. regulatory probe into how he characterized his ties to the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Staley, 64, is leaving Monday, according to a statement. C. S. Venkatakrishnan, who was promoted last year to run the Barclays markets division and was previously chief risk officer, will replace him as CEO.
The bank was made aware on Friday night of the preliminary conclusions of regulators “into Mr. Staley’s characterisation to Barclays of his relationship with the late Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclays’ response to the FCA,” Barclays said in the statement. “In view of those conclusions, and Mr. Staley’s intention to contest them, the board and Mr. Staley have agreed that he will step down from his role as group chief executive and as a director of Barclays. ”
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Staley’s surprise departure caps a tumultuous six years atop the British lender. He fended off a prior regulatory probe and a campaign by an activist shareholder to unseat him over his strategy to bolster Barclays’ investment bank. The Epstein probe has been running since late 2019, casting a shadow over Staley even as his firm enjoyed record results.
Former money manager Epstein was found dead in his U. S. jail cell in 2019, after being arrested and charged with sex trafficking. Epstein spent decades cultivating ties to U. S. and British elites, from Prince Andrew to Wall Street figures like Staley, Leon Black and Glenn Dubin.
The turmoil at Barclays is the latest indicator of how the late pedophile has haunted elite financial and social circles ever since he was accused of abusing and exploiting dozens of girls. Black has since stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management Inc. and receded from coveted roles including chairman of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Regulatory Probe
U. K. regulators have been probing how Staley characterized his relationship with Epstein since late 2019. Epstein regularly brought Staley business when he ran JPMorgan Chase & Co. ’s private bank and the two were close professionally, a person familiar with the matter has previously said.
Staley has said his relationship with Epstein “began to taper off as I left JPM and contact became much less frequent in 2013, 2014,” before ending in 2015, before he took up his role at Barclays.
In the summer of 2019, Staley volunteered to tell Barclays’s board his version of how his 15-year professional relationship with Epstein evolved.