Jes Staley is not the only Barclays employee who has been reprieved. Thousands of staff at the group’s investment bank will also be breathing a sigh of relief after the UK financial regulators decided not to demand his sacking as chief executive over his attempts to uncover the identity of a whistleblower.

Staley’s removal would have led to fears that the underperforming investment bank would face further deep cuts. The former JPMorgan executive is the investment bank’s strongest advocate on the board and observers believe his departure would have been used by internal critics to demand a change of strategy. It would certainly have strengthened the hand of Edward Bramson, the activist shareholder who now controls 5.2% of the votes and is reported to be calling for the bank’s trading arm to be wound down or sold.