Activist investor Ed Bramson backs down in fight with Barclays boss Jes Staley due to coronavirus crisis
Activist investor Ed Bramson has renewed his attack on Barclays boss Jes Staley – but said he will not vote against his reappointment as chief executive while the coronavirus crisis rages.
Bramson accused the Barclays chief of a ‘series of dubious judgements’ which had ‘degenerated into a series of public spectacles’, including maintaining a relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But he said that rather than vote against Staley’s reappointment at the annual general meeting on May 7, he would only withhold his vote due to fears that Barclays could be destabilised if it lost its chief executive during the pandemic.
Critic: Ed Bramson (pictured) has accused Barclays chief Jes Staley of a ‘series of dubious judgements’
New York-based Bramson, who is invested in Barclays through his firm Sherborne Investors, had previously promised to vote against fellow American Staley and said it was ‘with great reluctance’ that he was toning down his response.
Writing to shareholders, he urged them to withhold their votes too: ‘A vote in favour of Mr Staley’s reappointment forces the shareholder to express support for a director who has shown tolerance for underage sex crimes.’
But by withholding their vote, he said, shareholders could express disapproval of Staley while allowing Barclays’ board more time and flexibility to replace him. He wrote: ‘Mr Staley’s departure would bring to an end what has now degenerated into a series of public spectacles.’
Barclays revealed earlier this year that Staley, 63, was being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority over whether he had been open enough with his employer about his connections to Epstein, who committed suicide in jail last year.
Staley visited Epstein in Florida in 2008 while he was serving a 13-month sentence for child sex offences, and seven years later joined him at his Caribbean retreat, branded Paedo Island.
Barclays declined to comment.