The head of Barclays Bank (NYSE:BCS), Jes Staley, has stepped down following an investigation into his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
C.S. Venkatakrishnan (known as Venkat) will take over as chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank effective immediately, Barclays said in a written statement.
The resignation of Staley comes after preliminary conclusions of a probe by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Shares of Barclays were trading 1.2% lower after the announcement of Staley’s resignation.
Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on child sex-trafficking charges but hanged himself a month later in a New York prison.
Staley’s links to the dead financier have been the subject of an investigation by the U.K.’s financial watchdog and the Bank of England’s regulatory authority.
Barclays said that the "regulatory process still has to run its full course and it is not appropriate for Barclays to comment further on the preliminary conclusions" of the investigation.
Staley told staff in an internal memo that he did not want his "personal response" to the investigations to be a distraction at Barclays.
Barclays said it was confident that under Venkat’s leadership, the bank "will continue its strategic direction and improve performance in line with the progress of recent years."
Prior to joining Barclays in 2016, Venkat worked at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) from 1994, holding senior roles in asset management and investment banking.
Epstein’s close associate and former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is awaiting trial on charges that she recruited underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. She denies the charges.
Epstein is also known to have socialized with former U.S. presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, both of whom have sought to distance themselves from Epstein, insisting they knew nothing of his crimes.
One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, has claimed that Prince Andrew of Britain, the Duke of York, had sex with her when she was underage and in the clutches of Epstein and Maxwell. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations.
