Jes Staley is gone from Barclays PLC, but his successor will carry on his signature strategy of betting big on the U.K.’s last major presence on Wall Street.

Barclays appointed C.S. Venkatakrishnan as chief executive Monday after Mr. Staley unexpectedly stepped down under pressure from regulators about how he characterized his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Jes Staley is gone from Barclays PLC, but his successor will carry on his signature strategy of betting big on the U.K.’s last major presence on Wall Street.

Barclays appointed C.S. Venkatakrishnan as chief executive Monday after Mr. Staley unexpectedly stepped down under pressure from regulators about how he characterized his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Known as Venkat to colleagues, the new Barclays chief is a veteran executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he played a role in calling out risks in the London Whale trading debacle. He joined Barclays in 2016, shortly after Mr. Staley, whom he described as a mentor and friend in a memo sent to employees Monday.

“The strategy we have in place is the right one, and we will continue our existing plans to transform our organization and build on our financial prowess,” Mr. Venkatakrishnan wrote to staff.

Mr. Venkatakrishnan served as the bank’s chief risk officer for several years. In October 2020, he took over as global head of markets and co-head of the investment bank, a sign that he was being groomed as a possible successor. The board of Barclays identified him as the preferred candidate for the role more than a year ago, the bank said Monday.

The challenges he faces are the same as those that confronted Mr. Staley. Investment-banking profit surged during the pandemic, but investors have been skeptical since the business is particularly volatile. Revenues often evaporate in downturns, leaving the bank to bear the costs of a highly paid workforce.

C.S. Venkatakrishnan, the new Barclays CEO, is a veteran executive of JPMorgan.

Photo: Barclays

Citigroup Inc. analysts wrote last month that they were cautious about the sustainability of investment-banking revenue at Barclays and forecast flat overall revenue next year.

Yet Mr. Venkatakrishnan’s knowledge of global markets and of risk management could provide the balance the bank needs, said Ronit Ghose, the global head of banking research at Citigroup. Barclays CEOs have alternated between swashbuckling investment bankers, like Mr. Staley and Bob Diamond, who ran the bank after the global financial crisis, and more conservative retail bankers such as Antony Jenkins.

“Venkat could give Barclays a chance to break this back and forth,” Mr. Ghose said. “His profile looks like it could be a really interesting combination of domain expertise and prudence—focus on risk.”

Barclays is the sole survivor of a storied tradition of London-based investment banks, many of which over the years either failed or were subsumed into their larger U.S. rivals. Barclays, which is also one of the U.K.’s largest consumer banks, acquired Lehman Brothers’ U.S. operations in 2008, giving it a significant foothold on Wall Street. It also runs a large U.S. credit-card business.

Under Mr. Staley, Barclays has struggled to break out of its midtier status, lagging behind larger U.S. rivals such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan and Bank of America Corp. in the business of advising companies on debt and equity raising, and mergers and acquisitions. It edged ahead of Credit Suisse Group AG in the second quarter in terms of investment-banking revenue, taking advantage of the Swiss lender’s stumbles.

Mr. Venkatakrishnan said Monday that he would announce changes to the organization of the investment bank within days.

He gained a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and joined JPMorgan in 1994. At the U.S. bank, he held senior roles in asset management, investment banking and risk.

Mr. Venkatakrishnan proved his understanding of market risks in the middle of JPMorgan’s London Whale trading debacle in 2012. He didn’t work in the chief investment office unit that was responsible for the trades, which cost the bank $6 billion, but had oversight of market risks in the separate investment bank.

He was among the voices internally who raised concerns about the risk management of trades inside the chief investment office before they started souring. But executives disagreed with him, according to a report from the U.S. Senate investigation. It turned out his model was correct, the report said.

Later, Mr. Venkatakrishnan was brought in to help with the cleanup of the trade and the chief investment office, people familiar with the bank said.

JPMorgan executives say they tried to keep him at the bank when Mr. Staley, also a JPMorgan alum, lured him to Barclays. Unlike Mr. Staley, a brash American who used a charismatic charm on clients and employees, Mr. Venkatakrishnan is seen as lower key, according to executives who have worked with him.

Focused more on risk, he has had less client experience normally associated with being a CEO, the executives say.

Risk management “gives you a deep insight into what are the right ways in which we both conduct ourselves and we operate in financial markets,” Mr. Venkatakrishnan said in a video posted on the Barclays website when he was chief risk officer. “We lend and we transact in a way that preserves the long-term profitability and stability of the bank.”

Write to Simon Clark at simon.clark@wsj.com and David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com