Barclays rings the c-suite changes after Staley exit

British bank Barclays is ringing the changes in the c-suite after former chief Jes Staley decided to leave the lender to fight the findings of a probe into his characterisation of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The lender has appointed Paul Compton as its new head of investment banking, it announced today, as part of a wide ranging reshuffle at the top of the bank.

Alistair Currie will head up its consumer banking business, while Ashok Vaswani will take a new role as chief digital strategy officer.

The shake up is being seen as the first move by Barclays’ new boss, CS Venkatakrishnan, or Venkat as he is affectionately known in the City, to put his stamp on the British bank.

Compton and Venkat were at one stage seen as considered rivals to lead the bank after Staley.

The two were put in opposite senior roles at the investment bank to demonstrate their credentials for the top job in September 2020. 

Compton has decided to stay on under Venkatakrishnan after missing out on the top job.

The news was first reported by the Financial Times.

Venkat was handed the reins at Barclays after its boss since 2015, Staley, left his post last Monday to contest the findings of an investigation into his characterisation of his relationship with disgraced financier Epstein.

Venkat was full of praise for his old boss when he inherited the reins last week. He supported Staley’s cost cutting drive to boost Barclays’ profits.