‘NO EXCUSE’

Ex-Barclays CEO Banned From Senior Finance Roles Over Epstein Tie

The U.K.’s financial regulator found that Jes Staley failed to disclose his ties to the late sex offender.

Jes Staley, the ex-chief executive of Barclays Bank, has been fined $2.2 million and banned from holding any senior roles in the U.K. after the country’s financial regulator found that he failed to disclose his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Financial Conduct Authority said they questioned Staley about his relationship to Epstein and, in a letter sent by Barclays that he approved, Staley claimed he wasn’t close to Epstein. However, a 2020 investigation found that he had previously called Epstein one of his “most cherished” friends, and that Staley was in contact with Epstein until at least 2015. The FCA accepted that Staley didn’t write the letter himself but said there was “no excuse” for the false statements. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from girls under the age of 18. According to the BBC, the bank said on Thursday that it would cut at least $21.7 million in bonuses that Staley was set to collect. Staley, who has previously denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes, has launched a legal battle against the FCA.