Barclays chief executive Jes Staley disciplined over whistleblower

Barclays will reprimand chief executive Jes Staley and dock his pay after finding he mishandled a whistleblowing incident, it emerged on Monday.

The City watchdog has also opened a probe and could inflict fines on the bank and Staley in the latest blows to the bank’s reputation.

When the board received a letter making allegations that a top banker had “medical issues”, the matter was investigated.

The bank concluded that the banker, whom Staley knew well, had sought help for issues in the past and decided the matter was closed.

The banker has not been named and is below board level, but was recruited by Staley, who spent 34 years at JPMorgan.

The first letter to the board was in June 2016. A second letter alleging the bank had inadequate whistleblowing procedures in early 2017 led to an investigation by lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.

Once the whistleblowing matter was closed, Staley sought to find who wrote the letter, asking internal investigators for help. According to Barclays, he “honestly, but mistakenly, believed that it was permissible to identify the author”.

The board has “accepted his explanation that he was trying to protect a colleague who had experienced personal difficulties in the past from what he believed to be an unfair attack”.

Staley will get a formal written reprimand and suffer a “very significant compensation adjustment”. The size of the hit may depend on what the Financial Conduct Authority concludes.

Richard Burger, partner at law firm Reynolds, Porter, Chamberlain, said: “The Regulator will actively support whistleblowers, including taking steps to enforce the rules around protecting whistleblowers.”

Barclays’ shares slipped 1% to 213p on the news. One bank analyst said: “If the end of the story is, say, a nominal regulatory fine and no managerial change then the impact on the investment case should be muted.”

John McFarlane, the chairman, said he was “very disappointed” that “this situation has occurred”. He insisted Staley has the “unanimous” support of the board. Staley (pictured) can earn up to £8 million a year depending on performance, making him one of the best-paid bank bosses in Europe.

Last year, he got £4.2 million, including a £1.3 million bonus.

Until this morning, he was regarded as having made a clean start to the job, shaking up the investment banking arm, selling off fringe businesses and offering a clear strategy to the City.

Barclays has been heavily implicated in most recent financial scandals, including Libor fixing.

Gary Greenwood at Shore Capital said: “This latest revelation represents a very significant embarrassment for the board. As for Mr Staley, it remains to be seen whether the PRA and FCA come to the same conclusion as the board in allowing him to remain in his post.”