Karnataka born CS Venkatakrishnan, who was Barclays global head of markets and previously chief risk officer, has replaced Jes Staley as the British bank’s CEO after the latter stepped down amid a UK regulatory probe into his ties to financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Staley’s departure came after UK regulators shared with Barclays the preliminary findings of their multi-year probe into what he told the bank’s board about his relationship with Epstein following the latter’s 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges.
“The board is disappointed at this outcome,” the lender said. The regulators’ findings have not yet been made public. Venkat said his mentor’s shock departure means he is taking over the British lender “with deeply mixed emotions”. Staley “became chief executive of Barclays in one of our darkest hours, and devised and implemented a successful recovery strategy of outstanding vision,” the executive, who is known as Venkat, said in his first memo as CEO on Monday.
Barclays promoted Venkat and global head of banking Paul Compton last year as part of its plans to eventually replace Staley. Chairman Nigel Higgins started looking outside the bank for possible successors in early 2020, but put the process on hold to avoid destabilising the firm during the pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter. Barclays confirmed on Monday that it had reviewed external candidates but didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment further.
