Jes Staley says regulator's Epstein probe 'irretrievably damaged' reputation

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Jes Staley said the UK financial regulator had “irretrievably damaged” his reputation, as he began his long-awaited defence of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The former Barclays Plc chief executive officer said the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation and lifetime ban had left him unable to work again. Staley is giving evidence to a London court in an attempt to overturn the regulator’s finding that he “recklessly misled” it over his links to the late pedophile financier.

“The FCA took the most serious and drastic step that it could, ending my long and distinguished career in financial services and destroying my reputation,” said Staley in a witness statement shown to the court.

In his first public testimony since stepping down from Barclays in 2021, the 68-year-old banker said his interactions with Epstein were no different than those carried out by others at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he previously worked and where he’d first come to know him.

“I have no doubt, as a result of knowledge of the financial services industry, that a number of senior investment bankers at JPM and at other institutions will have engaged in extensive email correspondence with Mr. Epstein and with other clients, without the relationship between them having become a ‘close’ one,” said Staley in his statement to the court.

In a second witness statement, Staley denied that a number of emails between his eldest daughter Alexa and Epstein meant that she had acted as an intermediary for the pair. He said that he likely answered Epstein’s queries relayed via Alexa as a “matter of basic courtesy.”

Staley said it was clear that the emails to his daughter were initiated by Epstein. “I did not however make any attempt to contact Mr. Epstein at any time and he would have realised that any attempt to engage me in communication with him would be futile.”

The hearings are due to continue through this week.