Barclays (LON:BARC) has confirmed former JP Morgan Chase banker Jes Staley as its new chief executive.
Advertisement
He is now managing partner at hedge fund firm BlueMountain Capital.
Jenkins had wanted to downsize Barclays’s investment banking operation, following its involvement in the Libor rigging scandal.
“After an extended process, I now know Jes well, and we are in agreement on the way forward”, chairman John McFarlane said.
Mr Staley worked for over 30 years at J.P. Morgan, rising to run its asset-management unit before taking over the reins of JP Morgan’s investment bank in 2009.
The appointment comes three months after McFarlane fired Antony Jenkins as CEO after growing frustrated with the pace of change at what he called a “cumbersome and bureaucratic” lender.
Barclays chairman John McFarlane said: “Appointing an individual with the business scope, seasoning and track record is a hard challenge”.
“We will be committed to preserving and enhancing the trust that is the foundation of Barclays’ reputation”.
Three years ago, U.S. business news broadcaster CNBC reported that Mr Staley was, in fact, a finalist for the top job at Barclays in August 2012, – alongside his colleague Bill Winters. “Barclays is a very valuable franchise: from its retail and commercial banking presence in the United Kingdom, its strength in cards and payments, its strong position in Africa, to its investment bank”.
In an announcement today, UBS said that it accepted Mr Staley’s resignation from all of his functions at the bank with immediate effect.
But he could also get another £1.15 million in “role-based pay” – a scheme that Barclays set up in 2013 when the United Kingdom government started cracking down on banker’s bonuses.
Staley understood the business and “also the importance of cultural reform and the need to conduct our business in a way that we can all be proud of”, McFarlane said.
Advertisement
“We will complete the necessary transformation and repositioning of the investment bank”, he wrote.
