This year has already seen Leon Black,co-founder of the private-equity group Apollo Global Management,step down over ties to Epstein,the alleged paedophile and sex trafficker.
The question that hangs over Staley is one of honesty. British regulators launched an investigation in late 2019 into how Staley had described his relationship with Epstein to the Barclays board and how the board in turn characterised that to regulators.
Staley said he knew Epstein only professionally as a source of potential business when Staley was head of JPMorgan Chase&Co.’s private bank in the early 2000s. Epstein,who died in prison awaiting trial in 2019,was himself super-rich and ran a private wealth firm for his own elite clients.
But Staley’s description was scrutinised after regulators received emails between the men from JPMorgan,which suggested their relationship was friendlier than purely professional.
Loading
Barclays said on Monday that Staley was leaving to fight the preliminary conclusions drawn by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulatory Authority in their investigation. It added that nothing in the probe suggested Staley was aware of Epstein’s alleged crimes.
In a memo to staff,Staley said he didn’t want his personal responses to be a distraction for the rest of the bank. Barclays has had enough battles with regulators and they are rarely healthy for banks.