Ex-Barclays CEO lied about having a 'purely professional' relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, court rules

Business Insider

5 hours ago

A British tribunal has upheld former Barclays CEO Jes Staley's ban from holding senior positions in the financial services industry, finding in a 93-page ruling that he consistently misled the bank and others about his ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Timothy Herrington wrote in his decision that the 68-year-old did not "fully disclose" the nature of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
"We have noted Mr Staley's achievements as Chief Executive of Barclays, but in our view these do not diminish the seriousness of the misconduct," the judgment said. "The loss of his long-standing career is an inevitable consequence of that conduct."
Neither Barclays nor a representative for Staley immediately responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Staley stepped down as CEO of Barclays in 2021 amid an investigation by Britain's financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, into his relationship with Epstein.
In 2023, the FCA banned Staley from holding senior positions in the financial industry and fined him £1.8 million ($2.47 million), finding that he misled the regulator about his contacts with the sex offender.
Staley had earlier knowingly misled regulators about his relationship with Epstein so that it would "accept those representations at face value and not undertake any further investigation," the court ruled.
"We have found that Mr Staley knew, when he approved the Letter, that its contents were factually inaccurate," Thursday's judgment said.
Staley first met Epstein while he worked as an executive at JP Morgan in the late 1990s and 2000s. Staley said in court testimony that he viewed Epstein as a well-connected financier who could bring clients to the bank. But emails and other witness testimony demonstrated that the two had more than a "purely professional" relationship, the court ruled.
According to the documents, Staley wrote a personal email to Epstein in 2012 when he became aware that he would not be in the running to become CEO of JPMorgan Chase. He called Epstein a "cherished friend" and mentioned his daughter, who was studying physics. Staley later invited Epstein to attend his daughter's college graduation, emails show.
"I can't tell you how much your friendship has meant to me. Thank you deeply for the last few weeks. All will be fine, and we have a physicist in the family. To my most cherished friend, Jes," he said.
Staley maintained a relationship with Epstein after he left JP Morgan and confided in him while Barclays recruited him for the CEO role, which he held for six years, emails show.
"You never wavered in our friendship these last three years," Staley wrote to Epstein in October 2015, as he was interviewing to lead the multinational bank.
Contrary to Staley's claims, he and Epstein were in contact over many years, including indirectly in 2016 and 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority said.
"Mr Staley chose to take a calculated risk that we would take his inaccurate account of his relationship with Mr Epstein at face value," Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said in a statement.
"He hoped that the truth would never come to light and that he would get away with it. Such a serious lack of integrity flies in the face of the requirements we place on those at the top," she added.
The tribunal slashed the FCA's fine to £1.1 million. The reduction accounted for deferred shares that Barclays didn't allow him to receive, the ruling said.