Staley sent client information to Epstein while at JP Morgan, tribunal told

The former chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, shared client information with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while working for JP Morgan (JPM), a tribunal has heard.

Mr Staley was fined more than £1.8 million and banned from holding senior roles in the financial sector by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023 after it found the American misled the regulator over the nature of his relationship with the paedophile financier.

In a letter to the FCA in 2019, reviewed by Mr Staley, Barclays claimed that he did not have a “close relationship” with Epstein and their last contact was “well before” he joined the bank in December 2015.

But the authority found that the letter was misleading and that Mr Staley acted “recklessly and without integrity” by allowing it to be sent, as the FCA’s lawyers told a tribunal that he and Epstein had a “friendship”.

Mr Staley is now challenging the finding and the ban, at the Upper Tribunal in London.

In a witness statement, he said that he and Epstein were “professionally fairly close” but that they were “not personal friends”, and denied sharing information that “was or could be confidential” while at JPM.

But, giving evidence for a second day on Tuesday, Mr Staley said that he shared client information with Epstein during his time at JPM, where he worked for more than 30 years and acted as a private banker to Epstein.

Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, for the FCA, said: “A bank owes a duty of confidentiality, doesn’t it?”

Mr Staley replied: “Yes.”

Ms Mulcahy said: “You would accept it is not for a bank to disclose a client’s relationship status?”

Mr Staley replied: “I think that is right.”

But when Ms Mulcahy asked whether Mr Staley shared client details with Epstein, he replied: “Yes.”

Ms Mulcahy said: “Did the client in question ever know you were talking about them with Mr Epstein?”

Mr Staley replied: “No.”

Ms Mulcahy said: “And I assume that the client did not give you permission?”

Mr Staley replied: “No.”

In his witness statement, Mr Staley accepted sharing information “that was not in the public domain”, but added that “there was no conflict of interest created” between him and JPM.

This included sharing information with Epstein “for the purposes of obtaining his advice”.

In court, Mr Staley said he would share information with Mr Epstein to obtain his “counsel”.

He said: “Big bankers are allowed to seek counsel from people they trust all the time.”

Mr Staley also admitted sending information about his recruitment at Barclays, having unsuccessfully applied for the chief executive role in 2012 before being hired in 2015.

He said: “The negotiation was confidential but the discretion I had meant I had the latitude to share this with individuals that could give me counsel.”

But he said he was “never aware” of Epstein “lobbying to assist” him either in 2012 or 2015, adding he “would not have wanted (Epstein) to be involved”.

He continued: “I was not asking for his support, I was not asking for his involvement. It is a line of questioning that I don’t get.”

When Mr Staley was asked if he shared the information with Epstein because he trusted him, he replied: “I did not believe that he would use it in an inappropriate way.”

The hearing before Upper Tribunal Judge Tim Herrington and UT members Martin Fraenkel and Cathy Farquharson is due to conclude in April.