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LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Sherborne Investors
said on Thursday it would withhold its vote against Barclays
Chief Executive Jes Staley in the lender's upcoming
general meeting, to prevent fresh boardroom turmoil as the bank
grapples with the fallout from COVID 19.
The rebel shareholder said it still believed Staley "to be
unsuitable to continue" as a director of the bank but it had
chosen "with great reluctance" not to vote against him in
recognition of the "complexity of the management situation"
presented by the pandemic.
Sherborne, which controls a 5.45% stake in the bank and is
its third-largest investor, also called on the board to announce
an orderly succession timetable for Staley.
It said ongoing regulatory probes into his relationship with
U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein and historic misdeeds including
the attempted unveiling of a whistleblower had tainted Barclays
by association.
(Reporting By Sinead Cruise, editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
