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Former Barclays chief executive Jess Staley has been banned from working in the UK financial industry for allegedly misleading regulators about his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Thursday, the Financial Conduct Authority published a 79-page decision revealing new details and underlining the closeness of the relationship. Here are five things we learned.
Staley seeks Epstein’s advice in meeting with Barclays board
Staley has previously said that his ties to Epstein began to “wind down” after leaving JPMorgan Chase in 2013. But FCA noted that emails showed they remained in contact for at least two years, including before Staley was appointed chief executive. CEO of Barclays Bank.
In July 2015, Staley told Epstein that a board member approached him about the possibility of taking a job at the British bank and forwarded him several confidential emails with comments like “Let’s do it” and “It all begins.”
Three months later, Staley wrote to Epstein in an email titled “Friendship”: “Your friendship with us has never wavered over the past three years. It means a lot to me, too. (…) Cross your toes!!!”. Days later, he informed Epstein that Barclays’ board had approved his appointment.
According to the FCA, no one at Barclays knew the US banker was sharing confidential information.
During Staley’s time at BlueMountain, the new cache cached 600 emails
Regulators obtained 600 previously undisclosed emails between Staley during his tenure at JPMorgan Chase and Barclays and at U.S. hedge fund Blue Mountain Capital. They were the basis for a raft of revelations by the Financial Times in 2021 during Staley’s tenure at JPMorgan.
Staley tried to get Epstein to invest in a fund managed by Blue Mountain – saying in one email: “You are my first client!”
Other emails show they spoke and saw each other frequently during that time. Topics include meetings with prominent public and business people that Staley met, invitations to Epstein’s home, and concerns from Epstein’s personal assistant that the convicted sex offender “had run out of wine that Jess liked.”
In Staley’s own words, it was a “deep” friendship
“I owe you a lot. I am deeply grateful for our friendship. Rarely have I had such a deep friendship,” Staley told Epstein in 2009. Four years later, he reiterated that feeling, writing : “I can’t tell you how much your friendship means to me…” . . To my most precious friend, Jess. “
In 2015, Staley seemed to be referencing the mythical Battle of Troy, writing: “The strength of the Greek army is that its core fights together and never flees or breaks away, no matter the threat. That’s us.”
When asked about the remarks, Staley told the FCA that he often used an affectionate and warm tone when speaking to business contacts and that he was “playing with relationships” to make them appear closer than they actually were. He also said that this was a “joke”.
Interactions ‘wider’ than previously thought
The regulator laid out a list of social interactions that it said was “more extensive than those previously outlined by Staley”.
Staley made three trips to Epstein’s island and twice to his nearby private marina. He attended birthday dinners at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, his home in Palm Beach, Florida, and frequent visits to his townhouse in New York. The FCA said many had “no apparent business or professional purpose”.
Staley also said he visited Epstein in Florida in 2009, while Epstein was serving time in prison for pimping children for prostitution, “just to show support” because he was a “loyal guy.”
misleading presentation
In September 2019, Staley misled Bowdoin College, where he served as a trustee, following an investigation by the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees into his ties to Epstein.
In talking points that Barclays executives helped prepare, Staley said that “at no time did I allow (Epstein) to have any contact with any aspect of my career following his 2008 conviction” and that “during his After he was sentenced, my contact with him was very limited”. conviction”.
Staley insisted he “did not engage with him” and was “exercising an abundance of caution”, adding: “I never had any business with (Epstein) during my tenure at (Blue Mountain)”.
The FCA concluded that the statements were “misleading in all respects”.
Additional reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York
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