Ex-Barclays chief executive Jes Staley’s reputation was “irretrievably damaged” by the financial watchdog’s decision to ban him from top jobs in the City over his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a tribunal has been told.
Mr Staley told the Upper Tribunal that he was “professionally fairly close” to Epstein during his career in the finance industry, but said they were “not personal friends”.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Mr Staley £1.8 million and banned him from holding senior roles in the financial sector in 2023 after finding he did not disclose “uncomfortable truths about his close personal relationship” with Epstein.
It found Mr Staley acted “recklessly” by approving a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA stating that he and Epstein were not close, and that they ceased contact “well before” he joined the bank in 2015.
The former bank chief is now challenging the watchdog over its findings and the ban, and began giving evidence at the tribunal on Monday.
In a witness statement, he said: “My reputation has also been irretrievably damaged, not least because of the publicity which has been attendant upon the FCA’s actions.”
He continued: “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 without first asking me for an explanation for any perceived discrepancy.”
Mr Staley, who ran Barclays from 2015 to 2021, acted as a private banker to Epstein during his time at JP Morgan, where he worked for more than 30 years.
Epstein was jailed for child sex offences in 2008 and was arrested again in 2019. He died in prison that year while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking offences.
Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, for the FCA, previously told the tribunal Mr Staley described Epstein in emails as like “family” and one of his “deepest” and “most cherished” friends.
She also said that between March 2016 and February 2017, Mr Staley’s daughter, Alexa Staley, was used as an intermediary.
But Mr Staley claims he had no contact with Epstein when he joined Barclays in December 2015 and described their relationship as “predicated upon business”.
In his statement, he said: “I would describe my relationship with Mr Epstein as being ‘professionally fairly close’.
“It was a professional relationship which was predicated upon business. We were not personal friends, nor were we personally close.
“Relationships evolve and are not static, but when I described my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein to Barclays and to the FCA, I believed this was the most accurate and helpful definition.
