A thousand emails: The ex-bank CEO with links to Jeffrey Epstein in the case gripping London

Lawyers for ex-Barclays boss Jes Staley have argued that the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein had “the most remarkable network of contacts” that benefited Staley professionally as they kicked off a court challenge against his lifetime ban from financial services.

On Monday, Staley attended a London court to hear his lawyers push back against the Financial Conduct Authority’s findings that he misled both Barclays and the authority’s own interviewers when asked about the nature of his friendship with Epstein. The FCA’s case centres on a cache of over 1000 emails between Staley and Epstein, in which Staley described their friendship as “profound” and referred to Epstein as “family”.

Ex-Barclays boss Jes Staley is fighting to clear his name.Credit: AP

“Anyone reading the email correspondence in its entirety should reach the clear opinion that the range of his contacts and influence is not only astonishing but is probably without precedent,” the lawyers said in a filing. “The value of Mr Epstein to Mr Staley is obvious, given Mr Staley’s own prominent position in banking and the financial sector.”

Staley is set to give evidence in person later in the trial, the first time he has testified in public about his relationship with Epstein. The case, the most high-profile legal battle between the watchdog and any executive in recent years, revolves around a letter Barclays sent to the FCA in 2019 that was intended to reassure the authority but would instead prompt the investigation.

Jeffrey Epstein in 2017.Credit: AP

The letter set out the extent and timing of the pair’s interaction, stating that Staley confirmed to the bank he “did not have a close relationship” with Epstein, and he ceased contact “well before he joined Barclays in 2015”.

The FCA says Barclays’ letter was misleading and recently widened its case to accuse Staley of misleading its own investigators in interviews. The regulator is relying on the email cache, obtained with US assistance from the Epstein estate in January last year, that described a closeness that contradicts Staley’s own statements.

“While the origin of the relationship was professional, it evolved into a personal relationship,” Leigh-Ann Mulcahy, the FCA’s lawyer, told the judge.

Staley says he cut all ties with Epstein in late October 2015, shortly before his appointment as chief executive was announced. It followed a conversation with a Barclays official whose “strong advice” was that he should cease all contact. Staley had earlier forwarded Epstein a press article that detailed links between the pair and then received a response of “Xx” that his lawyers described as “cryptic” – the last direct email between the two.

But the FCA says that Staley maintained contact with Epstein through his eldest daughter, who acted as an intermediary through the spring of 2017. In one instance, Epstein emailed Alexa Staley in November 2016 to gauge his interest in becoming Treasury secretary in the first Trump administration.

Fit and proper

For the regulator, the case is also a test of its ability to enforce its own rules on financiers being “fit and proper” to work in the industry.

“This is an important case about those duties and about the conduct required of individuals who hold senior roles in the sector and who set an example to staff at their firm,” the regulator’s lawyers said. “The authority wishes to make clear that it is not seeking to embarrass Mr Staley and is not inviting the tribunal to infer involvement in or knowledge of any misconduct on the part of Mr Epstein.”

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges, including procurement of minors to engage in prostitution. He died while in jail on separate charges in 2019.

Staley, 68, stepped down from Barclays in 2021 and was banned from the sector about two years later. He has long downplayed his friendship with Epstein. The FCA’s investigation was neither fair nor impartial, his lawyers said, noting that the Barclays letter was drafted by the bank’s legal counsel and sent to chairman Nigel Higgins for approval.

Staley says that the letter “was not intended to define the relationship” between himself and Epstein and was simply the bank’s response to a “very narrow and restricted” request from the regulator.

“This is a remarkably short letter dealing with such an important request,” Robert Smith, Staley’s lawyer, said.

Officials at the bank were responding to a verbal enquiry “as to what steps had been taken by Barclays to satisfy itself in the relationship”, Smith said.

“The letter as drafted had no wider purpose.”

Staley and Epstein’s past

Staley’s long tenure at JPMorgan Chase & Co will also be a part of the case. He spent more than 30 years at the Wall Street giant, running its private bank for several years.

Epstein was a client of JPMorgan’s private bank for more than a decade despite attempts by some of the firm’s compliance staff to cut ties with the late financier over alleged links to sex trafficking and abuse of young women. Even after pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges, including procurement of minors to engage in prostitution, Epstein remained a customer – helped in part by Staley’s efforts in vouching for him.

Months after Staley left the bank in January 2013, Epstein was finally dropped as a client.

It was JPMorgan’s tip-off to the FCA that first prompted the regulator’s investigation. The US bank is sending a team of lawyers to the courtroom, who may speak on matters concerning the firm. JPMorgan ended a legal claim against Staley in 2023 as part of a wider settlement that saw the bank agree to pay out $US290 million ($465 million) to a group of almost 200 victims of Epstein’s abuse and a further $US75 million to the US Virgin Islands.

The bank did not admit liability in either case.

Epstein’s relationships remain a focus outside the UK as well. US Attorney-General Pam Bondi on February 27 said she authorised the official release of the documents related to the deceased financier. The move followed pressure from congressional Republicans and Democrats, and some of them were heavily redacted. The Justice Department said at the time that the information “largely contains documents that have been previously leaked.”

Among the witnesses called by the Financial Conduct Authority in the four-week trial are some of the biggest figures in London’s finance scene, including Andrew Bailey, who led the FCA before he became governor of the Bank of England, and Barclays chairman Higgins. Both were involved in a crucial meeting when regulators started asking tougher questions about how Staley characterised his relationship with Epstein.

The hearing is due to continue until April 3.

Bloomberg, Reuters

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.