Former star banker Jes Staley is 68 years outdated, however as an alternative of retiring he needs again into the funding enterprise – at the same time as he seeks to restore a repute ravaged by his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, On The Cash has discovered.
That’s why the previous Barclays CEO is placing himself by the wringer in UK court docket, testifying in a civil attraction of a ruling by the UK Monetary Conduct Authority that he knew nothing in regards to the scale of his outdated pal Epstein’s darkish aspect – particularly expenses that he had intercourse with minors.
It’s all an effort to reverse the proposed ban that would make him unemployable at a significant agency for the remainder of his life, former colleagues say.
His intestine will need to have been turning extra on Wednesday. Taking the stand at a British court docket often called London’s Higher Tribunal, Staley admitted underneath oath that he as soon as had intercourse with one among Epstein’s assistants.
The age of the assistant was not revealed, however consensus amongst bankers who know Staley is that the disclosure solely makes his longshot bid all of the tougher.
“I’m not sure what he’s trying to accomplish,” one former colleague advised On The Cash. “Who’s going to hire him?”
Staley’s fall is in some ways Shakespearean. He was as soon as a type of “masters of the universe” with a charmed profession on Wall Avenue. He labored at JP Morgan for practically three a long time in a wide range of senior roles and was thought of a doable successor to CEO Jamie Dimon. With Dimon signaling he has no intention of leaving anytime quickly (which continues to be just about the case), he left to hitch the massive UK-based financial institution, Barclays.
However Staley’s JPM profession additionally had some darkish corners. He ran the asset administration division and personal consumer group when the financial institution additionally counted Epstein, then a high-end wealth supervisor, as one among its greatest shoppers for about 15 years. The enterprise relationship then become what Staley has referred to as a “profound” friendship that included profession recommendation, frequent visits to Epstein’s residence and journeys to his personal island property within the Caribbean.
Staley additionally championed Epstein contained in the agency when some danger managers warned that Epstein’s 2008 conviction of getting intercourse with a minor was sufficient to chop him off.
Staley left JPM and in 2015 ended up as CEO of Barclays, at the same time as the connection drew extra consideration. Personal lawsuits filed by Epstein’s accusers mounted. Epstein was arrested in 2019 and accused of an enormous baby sex-trafficking scheme. Dealing with a life sentence, he was discovered lifeless in his jail cell in an obvious suicide.
Staley has by no means been accused of any crime, and he denies understanding the complete scale of Epstein’s improprieties. However, he was pressured out at Barclays in 2021 because the Monetary Conduct Authority, the UK-equivalent of the Securities and Change Fee, launched an investigation into allegations that Staley misled the company and the Barclay’s board about his dealings with Epstein.
The company subsequently barred him from doing enterprise within the UK, a close to dying sentence for any monetary govt’s profession given the significance of “The City,” or London, in world banking.
Staley, after all, isn’t the one highly effective man who had a friendship with Epstein for a lot of causes together with his huge connections to the tremendous rich, in addition to the higher ranges of academia and philanthropy. Like Staley, lots of Epstein’s outdated mates say they knew virtually nothing about his private life. All of them noticed his 2008 responsible plea as a minor transgression given his mild jail sentence (simply 13 months).
What makes Staley totally different is that he was thought of a proficient monetary govt, his profession was reduce brief (in his view unfairly), and that he’s keen to air his dirty-Epstein associated laundry in public to get his ban reversed. In his attraction, he’s denying the costs within the FCA’s ban and states that the company is “seeking to destroy my reputation.”
Sure, Staley feels wronged, however is any of this value it? Former colleagues say his probabilities of getting an enormous job in banking as fairly low, even when he convinces the court docket to reverse the ban. In the meantime he should endure a public shaming over every thing he is aware of about one of the despised folks on the planet of finance.
On Tuesday as an illustration, Staley testified in court docket that he was “shocked and surprised” by Epstein’s 2019 arrest. He additionally stated he thought his 2008 responsible plea was “an isolated transgression,” and that if he was “aware of his monstrous activities, I would not have maintained a relationship.”
JPM had sued Staley for allegedly ignoring Epstein’s abhorrent habits, which Staley denied. JPM later dropped the case when it settled its personal Epstein-related contretemps with the US Virgin Islands, which sued the financial institution over related points .
Throughout this similar testimony this week, Staley stated: “Mr. Epstein was also well connected within the upper levels of JP Morgan…He seemed to be aware of things relating to the bank that I was not aware of.” He stated different JPM execs may have stopped Epstein from doing enterprise with the financial institution.
However the actual fireworks within the case went down on Wednesday, when Staley was requested about his deposition in that JPM lawsuit, and his admission he had intercourse with one among Epstein’s workers. As Staley put it earlier than UK court docket: “Oftentimes I would go to Epstein’s apartment and he would be late and she and I got the chance to know each other.” They then had intercourse, “much to my embarrassment today.” He additionally said that Epstein had no data of the affair.
A lawyer for Staley didn’t return a name for remark; a JPM rep had no remark, although On The Cash has discovered that the financial institution is so nervous about what would possibly come out within the trial that it has a authorized officer within the courtroom all through the proceedings.
