LONDON — The chief executive of Barclays bank stepped down Monday following a report by the U.K. regulators into his past links with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Jes Staley said he will contest the preliminary conclusions, which were shared with him and the bank on Friday. The report by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority examined the way Staley characterized his relationship with Epstein to Barclays in his role as Epstein’s private banker in a previous job
“It should be noted that the investigation makes no findings that Mr. Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes, which was the central question underpinning Barclays’ support for Mr. Staley following the arrest of Mr. Epstein in the summer of 2019,” the bank said in a statement.
C.S. Venkatakrishnan will take over as group chief executive.
Epstein died by suicide at a Manhattan federal lockup in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges.
