The court was told that former Barclays CEO Jes Staley’s reputation was decided by the financial watchdog to ban his connections to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein from his top job in the city from being “irrevocably damaged”.
Mr Staley told the superior court that he was “quite close” to Epstein during his career in the financial industry, but said they were not “personal friends”.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined £1.8 million and banned him from taking a senior role in the financial sector in 2023 after he found he did not reveal “the uncomfortable truth about his close personal relationship” with Epstein.
It found that Mr Staley approved a letter from Barclays to the FCA indicating that he and Epstein were absent, and they joined the bank in 2015.
The former bank chief is now challenging the watchdog for its findings and the injunction and will provide evidence in court on Monday.
“My reputation has also been irreparably damaged, especially because of publicity for the FCA’s actions,” he said in a witness statement.
He continued: “The FCA took a possible step to end my long and outstanding career in financial services and destroyed my reputation without first asking me to explain any perceived differences.”
Mr Staley operated Barclays from 2015 to 2021, and he worked as a private banker in Epstein during his time at JP Morgan, where he worked for more than 30 years.
Epstein was sentenced to jail for child sex crimes in 2008 and was arrested again in 2019. He died in prison that year while awaiting trial for sexual trafficking crimes.
Mr Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC (FCA) told Epstein in court, for example, “family” and one of his “deepest” and “delicate” 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 claimed he had no contact with Epstein when he joined Barclays in December 2015 and described their relationship as “business-based.”
“I described my relationship with Mr. Epstein as “professional and quite close.”
“It’s a professional relationship, and it’s based on business. We are not personal friends, nor close contact.
“Relationship development rather than static, but when I describe my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein with Barclays and FCA, I believe it is the most accurate and useful definition.
