Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC is preparing to launch the search for a new chief executive to replace Jes Staley, the Financial Times newspaper reported Monday, citing two people briefed on the bank's plans.
Sources told the newspaper that Staley could stand down at the FTSE 100-listsed company's annual meeting in May 2021.
One of the sources told FT that a probe by UK's Financial Conduct Authority into links between Staley and financier Jeffrey Epstein has injected a sense of urgency into the process to replace Staley.
Earlier in February, Barclays backed Staley despite his relationship with Esptein, as it revealed that the relationship between Staley and Epstein was the subject of an enquiry by the FCA.
Barclays is about to appoint headhunting firm, probably Spencer Stuart or Egon Zehnder, to identify potential external successors given the lack of internal candidates, sources told FT.
If Staley decides to stand down because of the FCA prove then Barclays is likely to put an interim leadership team in place while it continues to search for his successor, one of the people informed FT.
A spokesperson for Barclays declined to provide a comment to FT.
https://www.ft.com/content/a9caaaf2-5656-11ea-a528-dd0f971febbc?segmentId=bf7fa2fd-67ee-cdfa-8261-b2a3edbdf916
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
