Jes Staley loses appeal against City ban for misleading watchdog over Epstein links - Jes Staley

The erstwhile Barclays main enforcement Jes Staley has mislaid a ineligible situation against the UK fiscal regulator, leaving him banned from the City for beingness for misleading the watchdog implicit his narration with the enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The ruling, handed down by the precocious tribunal justice Tim Herrington, said: “We hold with the [Financial Conduct] Authority (FCA) that Mr Staley’s breaches of the authority’s rules represented a superior nonaccomplishment of judgement by Mr Staley.

“Bearing successful caput the value of Barclays arsenic a fiscal institution, this was behaviour that could person resulted successful assurance successful the fiscal strategy being adversely affected.”

The lawsuit centred connected a missive that Barclays sent to the FCA successful 2019 that stated Staley “did not person a adjacent relationship” with Epstein and his past interaction with the financier was “well before” helium joined Barclays 4 years earlier successful 2015.

However, a consequent probe by the FCA – triggered by a cache of 1,200 emails from Staley’s erstwhile leader JP Morgan – concluded that the brace were “indeed close” and had a narration that “went beyond 1 that was nonrecreational successful nature”.

Staley, 68, appealed against the determination astatine the precocious tribunal, starring to a two-week proceeding successful March during which high-profile figures, including the Barclays chair, Nigel Higgins, and the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, appeared successful the witnesser box. The American banker himself faced astir 4 days of questioning.

The tribunal raised concerns astir Staley’s grounds successful its judgment, saying that the erstwhile Barclays main enforcement “could beryllium inconsistent successful his answers erstwhile helium felt that it would suit his case”.

The ruling said: “Although we bash not see that Mr Staley sought deliberately to mislead the tribunal we person recovered that immoderate of his grounds lacked credibility. There were occasions connected which helium did not bash his champion to assistance the tribunal successful his answers.”

The tribunal added that Staley had “shown nary remorse for his behaviour which has led to the authority’s investigation”.

Staley resigned from Barclays successful 2021 implicit preliminary findings from the FCA’s investigation. He was yet banned from the City, and primitively issued with a £1.8m good erstwhile the regulator gave its last determination successful 2023. He besides mislaid retired connected £18m worthy of wage and bonuses from Barclays arsenic a effect of the ruling.

The precocious tribunal reduced Staley’s £1.8m good to £1.1m successful airy of his mislaid wage from Barclays, but upheld the FCA’s prohibition connected Staley holding a elder absorption relation successful the fiscal services industry.

The City watchdog’s associated manager of enforcement, Therese Chambers, said: “Mr Staley chose to instrumentality a calculated hazard that we would instrumentality his inaccurate relationship of his narration with Mr Epstein astatine look value. He hoped that the information would ne'er travel to airy and that helium would get distant with it. Such a superior deficiency of integrity flies successful the look of the requirements we spot connected those astatine the top.

“The tribunal’s determination shows that we tin and volition enactment to support the fiscal strategy by holding those successful elder roles to the precocious standards required of them.”

Staley has 14 days to entreaty against the determination to the ultimate court.

Staley said successful a statement: “I americium disappointed by the result and the clip it took for this process to play retired – that was wholly beyond my control. As the tribunal accepted, I was ne'er dishonest – it took years of arguing with the authorization and until November 2024 to found that information and it took much clip for the fiscal punishment to beryllium reduced by 40%.

“I person worked tirelessly for my anterior employers for the entirety of my career; I americium arrogant of the enactment I gave to galore individuals during that vocation and the strategy I developed to assistance Barclays erstwhile it faced immense challenges. The tribunal recognised what they described arsenic ‘my agelong and distinguished career’.”