A former boss of Barclays, who was ousted from the financial institution over his hyperlinks to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, will search to clear his identify in courtroom this week.
Jes Staley was pressured out in November 2021 after UK regulators dominated he had did not precisely disclose the character and size of his relationship with Epstein to the Barclays board.
The episode price Mr Staley, a person with a glittering and rewarding profession in funding banking, £18m in pay and bonuses and, extra importantly for the 68-year-old, his popularity.
Mr Staley is searching for to overturn a choice by the Monetary Conduct Authority in 2023 banning him from holding a senior place in monetary providers.
Jes Staley had been disciplined by regulators in 2018 over his makes an attempt to unmask a whistleblower he felt was unfairly making an attempt to smear a colleague. However the essential blow to his place at Barclays was his insistence that his relationship with Epstein was “not shut” and had ended earlier than he took up the highest job on the UK financial institution.
A cache of emails launched by his former employer JP Morgan recommended the connection was in truth very shut.
E-mail exchanges describe time spent collectively at Mr Epstein’s properties in New York and on his non-public island within the US Virgin Islands.
A now notorious e-mail thread reveals Mr Staley remarking to Epstein “that was enjoyable, say hello to Snow White”. Epstein replies “what character would you want subsequent? To which Mr Staley replies “magnificence and the beast!”.
There are additionally allegations that he and Epstein stayed in touch not directly after he took the Barclays job. Mr Staley’s legal professionals insist that any such strikes had been initiated by Epstein and Mr Staley made no try and contact Epstein.
All of this will likely be aired in a courtroom that may name former regulators and executives as witnesses and lots of have questioned why Mr Staley, who’s now 68 and intensely rich, would need this publicity over again.
Jes Staley is a troublesome and fiercely proud man. He loved a really profitable profession on Wall Road and lots of thought he was destined to take over on the helm of his outdated employer JP Morgan – the largest funding financial institution on the earth.
Internally he was widespread with most of his banking colleagues. His ill-fated try and unmask a whistleblower he thought was smearing an outdated colleague, was seen by some – however not all – as proof of fierce loyalty to his personal troops.
That willingness to enter battle will likely be on present within the coming days, however appears unlikely to revive his popularity or future place to the one he loved earlier than he was proven the door at Barclays.
