Diamond Supports Barclays's Staley Amid Whistle-Blower Probes

(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley has done a good job leading the British bank and should be allowed to continue as he faces probes for trying to unmask a whistle-blower, according to one of his predecessors, Bob Diamond.

“I do think Jes is fit for the job and is the right person for the job,” Diamond said in a Bloomberg Television interview Monday on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. “It’s hard to project yourself into what other discussions are going on. He is the right guy for the job.”

Staley, 60, has the full support of the board and shareholders, he told Bloomberg on Friday. Under U.K. law, regulators can force him out if they deem it necessary, and Diamond declined to comment on the possibility of that happening. The former CEO said Staley has been a “very solid” leader, highlighting the strength of Barclays retail and investment banking platform.

Diamond, 65, left Barclays in 2012 and formed Atlas Merchant Capital to make a series of investments in banks, including those across Africa. In March, he returned to London’s financial center with an announced takeover of brokerage Panmure Gordon & Co. to build a boutique investment bank.

--With assistance from Erik Schatzker

To contact the reporter on this story: Dakin Campbell in New York at dcampbell27@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Eichenbaum at peichenbaum@bloomberg.net, Steve Dickson