Barclays CEO Steps Down Amid Probe Of Ties To Jeffrey Epstein

Barclays plc BCS CEO Jes Staley resigned on Monday morning in the wake of questions regarding his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

What Happened: Staley stepped down “in view of the conclusions” made by U.K. regulators regarding his association with Epstein, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Although the regulators have not published their conclusions, the bank stated that the regulators’ investigation did not identify evidence that “Mr. Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes.”

However, the Journal cited sourcing from unnamed “people familiar with the investigation” that Barclays employees “had expressed concerns to the regulators about the truthfulness of disclosures” made by Staley and the Barclays investigative team to the investigators. Staley insisted his stepping down was not in response to any investigatory conclusions.

“I do not want my personal response to those matters to be a distraction from the fantastic work you do every day to support our customers and clients,” Staley wrote in an internal memo to the Barclays staff.

C.S. Venkatakrishnan, head of global markets, has assumed the CEO role, effective immediately.

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How It Happened: Staley was head of JPMorgan’s JPM private bank when he first met Epstein, a bank client in 2000. Four years later, Epstein reportedly pocketed a $15 million fee from Highbridge Capital after the company was acquired by JPMorgan for more than $1 billion.

Staley left JPMorgan in 2013 and became Barclays CEO in December 2015. Staley, who twice visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island with his wife, said he had no further contact with Epstein after taking the leadership role at Barclays and later claimed to be unaware of the criminal aspects of his life.

“I thought I knew him well and I didn’t,” he said in March 2020. “For sure, with hindsight, with what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Epstein pleaded guilty to guilty to two prostitution offenses in Florida state court in 2008. In July 2019, he was arrested on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, but his attorneys questioned that finding and the circumstances surrounding his death continue to create controversy.

Photo: World Economic Forum / Flickr Creative Commons.