...November 1, 2021 LONDON (S&P Global Ratings) Nov. 1, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that the sudden departure of Jes Staley as CEO of Barclays PLC (###/Positive/A-2) is an unexpected development, but his internal replacement is set to maintain the bank's strategic direction. Barclays announced today that it agreed with Mr. Staley that he will step down as CEO and a director with immediate effect. The move came after U.K. regulators provided preliminary conclusions of their investigation into how Mr. Staley characterized his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Barclays stated that Mr. Staley intends to contest the investigation's preliminary findings, and noted that the investigation makes no suggestion that Mr. Staley was aware of Mr. Epstein's alleged crimes, which was "the central question underpinning Barclays' support for Mr. Staley following the arrest of Mr. Epstein in the summer of 2019". Barclays' new permanent CEO is C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat. He was Barclays' chief...
