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

The previous Barclays chief government Jes Staley has misplaced a authorized problem in opposition to the UK monetary regulator, leaving him banned from the Metropolis for all times for deceptive the watchdog over his relationship with the intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.The ruling, handed down by the higher tribunal choose Tim Herrington, stated: “We agree with the [Financial Conduct] Authority (FCA) that Mr Staley’s breaches of the authority’s guidelines represented a severe failure of judgment by Mr Staley.“Making an allowance for the significance of Barclays as a monetary establishment, this was conduct that would have resulted in confidence within the monetary system being adversely affected.”The case centred on a letter that Barclays despatched to the FCA in 2019 that said Staley “didn’t have an in depth relationship” with Epstein and his final contact with the financier was “properly earlier than” he joined Barclays 4 years earlier in 2015.Nonetheless, a subsequent investigation by the FCA – triggered by a cache of 1,200 emails from Staley’s former employer JP Morgan – concluded that the pair had been “certainly shut” and had a relationship that “went past one which was skilled in nature”.Staley, 68, appealed in opposition to the choice on the higher tribunal, resulting in a two-week listening to in March throughout which high-profile figures, together with the Barclays chair, Nigel Higgins, and the Financial institution of England governor, Andrew Bailey, appeared within the witness field. The American banker himself confronted nearly 4 days of questioning.The tribunal raised issues about Staley’s proof in its judgment, saying that the previous Barclays chief government “could possibly be inconsistent in his solutions when he felt that it will swimsuit his case”.The ruling stated: “Though we don’t take into account that Mr Staley sought intentionally to mislead the tribunal we now have discovered that a few of his proof lacked credibility. There have been events on which he didn’t do his finest to help the tribunal in his solutions.”The tribunal added that Staley had “proven no regret for his conduct which has led to the authority’s investigation”.Staley resigned from Barclays in 2021 over preliminary findings from the FCA’s investigation. He was ultimately banned from the Metropolis, and initially issued with a £1.8m high quality when the regulator gave its remaining choice in 2023. He additionally misplaced out on £18m value of pay and bonuses from Barclays on account of the ruling.The higher tribunal decreased Staley’s £1.8m high quality to £1.1m in gentle of his misplaced pay from Barclays, however upheld the FCA’s ban on Staley holding a senior administration position within the monetary providers business was upheld.skip previous e-newsletter promotionSign as much as Enterprise TodayGet set for the working day – we’ll level you to all of the enterprise information and evaluation you want each morningPrivacy Discover: Newsletters could comprise information about charities, on-line advertisements, and content material funded by exterior events. For extra data see our Privateness Coverage. We use Google reCaptcha to guard our web site and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.after e-newsletter promotionThe Metropolis watchdog’s joint director of enforcement, Therese Chambers, stated: “Mr Staley selected to take a calculated danger that we’d take his inaccurate account of his relationship with Mr Epstein at face worth. He hoped that the reality would by no means come to gentle and that he would get away with it. Such a severe lack of integrity flies within the face of the necessities we place on these on the prime.“The tribunal’s choice reveals that we will and can act to guard the monetary system by holding these in senior roles to the excessive requirements required of them.”Staley has 14 days to attraction in opposition to the choice to the supreme court docket.Staley stated in an announcement: “I’m disillusioned by the result and the time it took for this course of to play out – that was totally past my management. Because the tribunal accepted, I used to be by no means dishonest – it took years of arguing with the authority and till November 2024 to determine that truth and it took extra time for the monetary penalty to be decreased by 40%.“I’ve labored tirelessly for my prior employers for everything of my profession; I’m pleased with the help I gave to many people throughout that profession and the technique I developed to assist Barclays when it confronted immense challenges. The tribunal recognised what they described as ‘my lengthy and distinguished profession’.”