Ex-Barclays chief loses bid to overturn ban over Epstein ties

Mr Staley told the tribunal that while he had a close professional relationship with Epstein, it was not a close personal friendship

Former Barclays CEO Jes Staley arrives at the High Court (Rolls Building) on March 14, 2025 in London, England (Getty Images)

Former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley has lost a legal challenge against a regulator’s decision to ban him from top City jobs over his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

In 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Mr Staley £1.8 million and banned him from holding senior roles in the financial sector after finding that he misled the regulator over the nature of his relationship with the financier.

The American challenged the ban and the fine at the Upper Tribunal in London, with his lawyers saying that he “never attempted to conceal his relationship with Mr Epstein”.

In a unanimous decision on Thursday, Upper Tribunal judge Tim Herrington and tribunal members Martin Fraenkel and Cathy Farquharson dismissed the challenge, but reduced the fine to £1,107,306.92.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein on July 8, 2019 in New York City (Getty Images)

Over the more than-two week hearing, Mr Staley, who ran Barclays from 2015 to 2021, told the tribunal that while he had a close professional relationship with Epstein, it was not a close personal friendship.

Mr Staley, who gave evidence at the hearing which ended in April, claims the last time he physically met Epstein was in April 2015.

In a letter to the FCA in 2019, approved by Mr Staley, Barclays claimed 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.