Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — Jes Steley will be leaving as the chief executive at U.K bank Barclays After an inquiry by U.K regulators into Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to the financier, (LON) 

The bank stated that it became aware of the preliminary conclusions of a Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulatory Authority investigation into Staley’s relationship to Epstein and Barclays representation of them in a written statement to these regulators. 

Bank said it was disappointed with the outcome.

Staley managed to steer Barclays successfully through the difficult first few years. This was after he had defeated an activist investor group that challenged his plan of betting large on Barclays’ investment bank. Through the initial phases of the pandemic, the unit made record profits. 

His tenure was not without controversy. He had fought regulators about his harassment of whistleblowers and for 18 months over his connections to Epstein. Epstein committed suicide as he waited for his trial for sex crime. After U.S. regulators had sent emails between two of their men to U.K. authorities, the PRA and FCA launched an inquiry.

Staley was a client of Epstein in his early 2000s role as head of JPMorgan (NYSE)’s wealth-management business. However, he stayed in touch with Epstein long after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. According to multiple reports, Staley visited Epstein while he was serving his sentence and also visited Epstein’s private island late in 2015.