The financial institution had been requested to elucidate what it had achieved to make certain there was no impropriety within the relationship between the pair, which Barclays supplied in a letter learn and permitted by Mr Staley.
In actuality, in emails between the 2 Mr Staley described Epstein as one in every of his “deepest” and “most cherished” pals, the FCA discovered.
Nearly 600 emails have been exchanged between January 2013 and October 2015 regardless of Mr Staley claiming his final contact with Epstein was “well before” he joined Barclays in December 2015. The FCA stated this assertion was due to this fact incorrect and deceptive.
Mr Staley acted as a personal banker to the disgraced financier throughout his time at JP Morgan , the place he labored for greater than 30 years.
He stepped down from Barclays in November 2021 amid the investigation into whether or not the financial institution and Mr Staley downplayed his relationship with Epstein.
He nonetheless obtained his contractual entitlement to £2.4 million in money and shares – the equal of 12 months in fastened pay – in addition to a pension allowance of £120,000 and different undisclosed advantages.
If I had recognized who Jeffrey Epstein actually was, there’s completely little doubt that I wouldn’t be within the place I’m in immediately. I’m very dissatisfied by the FCA’s choice and I’ll proceed to problem it
Therese Chambers, joint govt director of enforcement and market oversight on the FCA, stated: “A CEO (chief executive officer) needs to exercise sound judgment and set an example to staff at their firm. Mr Staley failed to do this.
“We consider that he misled both the FCA and the Barclays board about the nature of his relationship with Mr Epstein.
“Mr Staley is an experienced industry professional and held a prominent position within financial services.
“It is right to prevent him from holding a senior position in the financial services industry if we cannot rely on him to act with integrity by disclosing uncomfortable truths about his close personal relationship with Mr Epstein.”
The FCA’s choice is provisional and Mr Staley will current his case at a following tribunal.
In a press release from regulation agency Arnold & Porter on behalf of Mr Staley, he stated: “If I had known who Jeffrey Epstein really was, there is absolutely no doubt that I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today.
“Prior to undertaking my former role, it was known that I had had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
“I have worked tirelessly over the last 43 years and have genuinely supported many people and social causes, where others might not have done so.
“I am very disappointed by the FCA’s decision and I will continue to challenge it.”
Barclays stated that following the FCA’s choice, it determined Mr Staley was ineligible for, or would forfeit, bonuses and share awards totalling £17.8 million.
The banking large had already suspended all of Mr Staley’s deferred bonuses and long-term share awards whereas the watchdog investigated.
Mr Staley has beforehand stated he “deeply regrets” his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a federal jail in 2019 whereas awaiting a sex-trafficking trial.
He stated he had no contact with Epstein as soon as he joined Barclays in December 2015. Earlier that yr, he and his spouse sailed to Epstein’s non-public island within the Caribbean for lunch.
Last month, JP Morgan Chase stated it had agreed to pay 75 million US {dollars} (£61 million) to the US Virgin Islands to settle claims that the financial institution enabled the sex-trafficking acts dedicated by Epstein.
The Virgin Islands had sued the American banking large, arguing that it was complicit in Epstein’s behaviour. The settlements averted a trial that had been resulting from begin this month.
JP Morgan additionally reached a confidential settlement with Mr Staley, who it had sued for allegedly concealing his private actions with Epstein from the financial institution.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal expenses accusing him of paying under-age ladies a whole lot of {dollars} in money for massages after which molesting them at his houses in Florida and New York.
