Ex-Barclays CEO Staley denies lobbying JPMorgan to retain Epstein as consumer | USAEMALL.com

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Ex-Barclays chief Jes Staley has insisted he did not lobby JPMorgan to retain Jeffrey Epstein as a client after the deceased financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor.

Staley felt “loyal” to Epstein, but denied that the two were friends, the former Barclays boss told a London court on Tuesday during his second day of testimony as part of his legal battle against the Financial Conduct Authority.

Staley, who worked for JPMorgan until 2013 and joined Barclays in 2015, said he was “shocked and surprised” upon Epstein’s arrest in 2019 and stressed he had no knowledge of Epstein’s “monstrous activities”. Epstein was found dead in a prison cell in August 2019.

“If I had any notion of his abhorrent activities I would not have maintained a relationship with him,” Staley told the court.

Staley admitted in his accompanying witness statement that he visited Epstein in 2009 while Epstein was on work release from jail after his earlier conviction in Florida for soliciting minors. Staley also conceded in court that he was aware of lawsuits from 2010 alleging human trafficking against Epstein.

The former Barclays boss is seeking to overturn a ban and fine the FCA imposed on him in 2023 for allowing Barclays to mislead the regulator about the nature of his dealings with Epstein. The FCA alleges Staley downplayed his ties and was not candid with regulators. The watchdog does not allege that Staley was aware of Epstein’s criminality.

The case centres on two statements Barclays made to regulators in a letter in 2019, which Staley approved. The bank asserted that its chief executive “did not have a close relationship” with Epstein and that Staley’s last contact with him was “well before” Staley had joined the UK bank in 2015.

The FCA contends that a cache of emails between the two shows that the statements in Barclays’ letter were inaccurate.

Staley’s testimony underscores the complicated relationship he has with JPMorgan. It was the US bank that first handed over the emails between Staley and Epstein to the FCA. The Wall Street giant also sued Staley, claiming he misled the bank by internally vouching for Epstein, and the two parties reached a confidential settlement in 2023.

Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, representing the FCA, put it to Staley on Tuesday that the “internal perception” within JPMorgan was that the two men were friends.

The barrister also posited to Staley that before he left the US bank in 2013, but in the period following Epstein’s conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution, “you were the one wishing to retain Mr Epstein as a client”.

Staley told the court that he had not “lobbied” for Epstein and “left the process of whether he stayed as a client or not” with superiors at the bank, including in legal and compliance. “If people wanted to exit Epstein from the bank, they could’ve,” he said.

“When I left the bank, Epstein’s banking relationship didn’t follow me. He followed the Paul Morris banking team,” said Staley, referring to a wealth management executive who helped manage Epstein’s wealth while at JPMorgan and transferred him as a client when Morris joined Deutsche Bank.

Cross-examining Staley about the extent of his ties with Epstein, Mulcahy also asked about various emails he had exchanged with Epstein, including one on the day of Epstein’s release from prison in July 2009 in which he wrote: “I toast your courage.”

Mulcahy asked why he felt Epstein had been courageous. “He was indicted, and prosecuted, and he served time in jail,” Staley replied. “I was loyal to him.”