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Emails Staley despatched to Epstein have been cited by the Monetary Conduct Authority as proof the banker had misled the regulator when he assured it that the pair “didn’t have a detailed relationship”.
When Staley labored at JPMorgan Chase, previous to becoming a member of Barclays, he requested Epstein for recommendation on easy methods to get a better pay bundle out of his boss Jamie Dimon, and shared private particulars of a consumer of the US financial institution, the FCA stated in its written argument in opposition to the previous Barclays’ boss.
Staley has launched a authorized problem in opposition to the FCA’s decision in 2023 to ban him from working in UK monetary providers and high-quality him £1.8mn for having “recklessly misled” it and performing “with an absence of integrity” over the character of his relationship with Epstein, a consumer of the Wall St financial institution.
Staley is because of testify within the case in March and faces three days being cross examined by the FCA’s attorneys, a London courtroom heard on Thursday at a pre-trial overview.
The regulator stated the main points of e mail site visitors between Staley and Epstein, which first got here to mild in a US lawsuit, supported its discovering that the previous Barclays boss had offered “inaccurate and deceptive” statements to the UK regulator when requested about their relationship.
“Between 2008 and 2011, Staley shared confidential info regarding his former employer, JPMorgan with Epstein displaying the closeness of their relationship and Staley’s willingness to breach obligations owed to his employer together with the place there was a battle of curiosity between JPMorgan and Epstein,” the FCA stated.
It stated that Epstein forwarded to Staley an e mail written by Larry Summers, the previous US Treasury secretary, asking: “What’s the actual story on Madoff? Shouldn’t JPM have recognized higher?” Madoff, a former consumer of the US financial institution, was sentenced to 150 years in jail in 2009 for orchestrating a $65bn Ponzi scheme. He died in 2021.
The FCA stated that Staley had answered: “I can’t reply in e mail. Will name”, which the regulators stated indicated “he was ready to debate the problem with Mr Epstein”.
The regulator stated it discovered proof that Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 after being arrested on costs of intercourse trafficking minors, had “offered important assist” to Staley’s daughter in her schooling and profession and she or he invited him to her 2013 commencement.
In response to the FCA’s written argument, Staley acknowledged that the data he shared with Epstein was “not public info” however denied that it was confidential to JPMorgan.
A letter despatched by Barclays to the FCA and authorised by Staley had assured the regulator that Staley ceased contact with Epstein “effectively earlier than” he joined the financial institution in 2015.
However the regulator stated Staley was in touch with Epstein within the days main as much as his appointment as Barclays chief govt being introduced in 2015 and the convicted intercourse offender had tried to assist him get the job.
In its most up-to-date response filed with the courtroom, the FCA claimed that contact between the 2 males had really continued into “at the least” February 2017, utilizing Staley’s daughter Alexa as an middleman.
Staley has responded that the FCA didn’t totally consider “the sporadic nature” of the emails exchanged between his daughter and Epstein, which came about over a interval of 11 months and began 5 months after the banker’s final correspondence with Epstein.
The previous Barclays boss put his lack of ability to remember conversations with his daughter in regards to the emails all the way down to “the passage of time and his skilled commitments”.
Attorneys for Staley, 68, argue that the FCA’s course of was “unfair” and that the penalty it imposed was “grossly disproportionate”.
The FCA determined to launch an investigation with out giving Staley a chance to offer a proof for “any obvious inconsistency” in his statements, they stated.
In written arguments, Robert Smith KC, for Staley, stated the FCA’s competition that Staley was in touch with Epstein as late as 2017 through his daughter was “not supported by the proof”.
He added that the FCA had been capable of level to solely “a handful of events” wherein the 2 interacted socially over a interval of just about 10 years.
Staley met Epstein in about 1999 whereas head of JPMorgan’s personal financial institution, of which Epstein was a consumer. Epstein was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution and sentenced to 18 months in a Florida jail in 2008.
Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, representing the FCA, stated in authorized paperwork that Staley’s affiliation with Epstein “inevitably raised questions on his conduct and judgment”. She stated the sanctions imposed on Staley have been “acceptable” and “proportionate”.
