The boss of Barclays just quit amid an investigation into his ties with Jeffrey Epstein

• Barclays on Monday said CEO Jes Staley was resigning amid a probe into his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
• Barclays said it had seen preliminary findings from the regulatory investigation on Friday.

Barclays CEO Jes Staley is stepping down from the bank effective immediately amid a regulatory investigation into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Barclays said in a statement Monday that it was made aware of preliminary findings from the investigation, by UK financial regulators, on Friday evening.

The disgraced financier Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged with child sex trafficking. He was found dead in his jail cell a month later.

When Staley ran JPMorgan's private bank, Epstein regularly brought him business, Bloomberg reported a person familiar with the matter as saying.

Barclays on Monday said investigators were examining "Mr. Staley's characterization to Barclays of his relationship with the late Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclays' response" to the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

Staley intended to "contest" the investigators' preliminary conclusions, Barclays said.

Barclays said: "It should be noted that the investigation makes no findings that Mr. Staley saw, or was aware of, any 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 said its board and Staley had agreed that he'd step down from his role as group CEO and as a director.

C.S. Venkatakrishnan, the head of global markets, is taking over as Barclays CEO effective immediately.

Staley's contract entitles him to receive his fixed pay of £2.4 million, or $3.3 million, in cash and Barclays shares until October 31 of next year, Barclays said.

Shares in Barclays fell by 3.4% in early trading in London on Monday.