After investigations by the British financial regulator into his connection to the now deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the chairman of the board of the Barclays bank, Jes Staley, has resigned. In view of the findings of which the bank and Staley were informed on Friday evening, the company and the manager had agreed to withdraw, Barclays announced on Monday in London.
The 64-year-old had contact with Epstein during his time at the US bank JP Morgan. He has been the head of Barclays since December 2015. According to the investigation, Staley was neither a witness of alleged crimes of Epstein, nor was he aware of them, Barclays said. That was also the main reason why Barclays supported Staley after Epstein’s arrest in the summer of 2019.
“In view of the conclusions and Mr. Staley’s intention to challenge them, the board of directors and Mr. Staley have agreed that he will step down from his post as head of the group and director of Barclays,” the bank said. The manager managed the company successfully and with a lot of commitment. He received his salary of 2.4 million pounds (2.84 million euros) for another year. His successor is to be top manager CS Venkatakrishnan.
The US businessman Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019, is at the center of an abuse scandal. Together with his ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently waiting for her trial in a New York prison, he is said to have made dozens of girls and young women into their addiction and sexually abused and fed other men for years.