Morning Report: City watchdog probing Barclays CEO links to sex offender Epstein

Headlines from the Proactive UK newsroom.

Barclays (LON:BARC) says it remains confident in the ongoing leadership of chief executive Jes Staley while the City watchdog carries out an investigation into his historical links with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The announcement was made in a separate statement alongside the UK high street bank’s annual results, which showed a profit before tax of £4.4bn for 2019, up 26% on the previous year. 

Futura Medical (LON:FUM) has commenced formal proceedings to get EU approval for its erectile disfunction gel formulation with full submission expected in mid-2020. A face-to-face meeting with the US regulator has also been confirmed for this quarter.

Clear Leisure (LON:CLP) says its legal position in the case against the former directors of Sipiem has been strengthened by a court ruling in Turin. The ruling confirmed Clear Leisure as Sipiem’s controlling owner and that its minority shareholder illegally tried to remove control of the company.

Britain is to clamp down on unregulated cannabis oil products. The Food Standards Agency says from March 2021 it will remove from sale unapproved CBD products.

Centrica’s retail businesses are getting better but progress is being slowed by its production businesses, which the British Gas Owner says are set for another tough year in 2020. Production write-offs meant a full year loss of £1.1bn