Barclays backs CEO Jes Staley as UK regulators probe Jeffrey Epstein ties
- CEO had historical links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
- Epstein died in prison last year after arrest
Britain’s financial regulators are probing historical links between Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley and the US financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, the bank said on Thursday.
Barclays said its board had looked into media reports on Staley’s relationship with Epstein, and probed Staley’s characterisation of it. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority are investigating.
The bank said its board believes Staley has been sufficiently transparent about his ties to Epstein, whom Staley said he had not seen since taking over as Barclays CEO in 2015.
“Accordingly, Mr Staley retains the full confidence of the board,” a statement said.
The board has “unanimously recommended” US national Staley for re-election at the bank’s annual general meeting on May 7.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Staley said he regretted his relationship with Epstein, which began in 2000 while he was employed by JPMorgan and “tapered off significantly” after he left the Wall Street lender.
The relationship ended in late 2015, Staley said.
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“I thought I knew him well, and I didn’t. I’m sure with hindsight of what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said.
The New York Times last year said that Epstein had referred “dozens” of wealthy clients to Staley when the CEO ran JPMorgan’s private banking business.
It also reported that Staley visited Epstein in prison when he was serving a sentence between 2008-09 for soliciting prostitution.
Staley also went to Epstein’s private island in 2015, Bloomberg reported.
Barclays has previously said that Staley never engaged or paid fees to Epstein to advise him or provide professional services.
The probe is the second regulatory investigation into Staley’s conduct in recent years, after the FCA and PRA fined him £642,000 in 2018 for trying to identify a whistle-blower who sent letters criticising a Barclays employee.
Lawsuit: Epstein abused girls as young as 12, one tried to escape his private island
Barclays shares fell 3.4 per cent on Thursday morning.
Epstein died at age 66 by hanging himself in his Manhattan jail cell last August 10, five weeks after being arrested on charges he abused and trafficked in women and girls from 2002 to 2005 in Manhattan and Florida. He had pleaded not guilty.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
