Former Barclays boss Jes Staley fails to overturn leadership ban
Former Barclays CEO Jes Staley lost his bid to overturn a ban from holding senior leadership after he was found to have misled about his relationship with Epstein.
The Upper Tribunal found he did not fully disclose the terms of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein to Barclays before the letter that was sent to the City watchdog.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asked Barclays in 2019 to explain the relationship between the pair.
The letter that was sent to the watchdog claimed Staley did not have a close relationship with the child sex offender, but in emails between the two, Staley described Epstein as one of his ‘deepest’ and ‘most cherished’ friends.
Additionally, Staley ceased contact with Epstein well before he joined Barclays, but it was later established that he had contact with Epstein in the days leading up to his appointment as CEO of the bank.
As a result, the FCA found Staley “recklessly approved a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA” and, in 2023, issued him with a £1.8m fine, along with banning him from holding a senior position in the financial sector.
He referred the decision notice to the Upper Tribunal, which went to trial in March.
However, on Thursday, the Tribunal ruled against him, dismissing the non-disciplinary reference and allowing the authorities to make a prohibition order against him from holding senior management roles within the City.
Despite that, the Upper Tribunal did reduce the £1.8m fine to £1.1m.
Commenting on the ruling, Therese Chambers of the FCA said: “Mr Staley chose to take a calculated risk that we would take his inaccurate account of his relationship with Mr Epstein at face value.”
“He hoped that the truth would never come to light and that he would get away with it. Such a serious lack of integrity flies in the face of the requirements we place on those at the top.”
“The Tribunal’s decision shows that we can and will act to protect the financial system by holding those in senior roles to the high standards required of them,” she added.
There will be a time limit on if Staley wants to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal or not.
But today’s decision “is clearly a significant and high-profile win for the FCA,” says David Hamilton, partner at Howard Kennedy.