UT (Tax & Chancery) UT-2023-000064 - [2024] UKUT 00394 (TCC)

As helpfully summarised by Ms Mulcahy in her skeleton argument, between December 2015 and October 2021, the Applicant was the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Barclays Bank Plc (“Barclays”). Before he became the CEO of Barclays, the Applicant was for most of his career employed by JPM, from 1979 to January 2013. The Applicant met Mr Jeffrey Epstein in 1999 or 2000, while the Applicant was the Head of JPM’s Private Bank, of which Mr Epstein was a client. The Applicant became the CEO of the Investment Bank at JPM in around September 2009. The Applicant left JPM in January 2013. He became the Managing Partner of Blue Mountain Capital Management LLC, remaining in that role until he joined Barclays as CEO in December 2015, an appointment that was announced in October 2015.

In July 2019, Mr Epstein was arrested on federal charges for sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York. Around this time, articles appeared in the press concerning connections between Mr Epstein and various prominent figures, including Mr Staley. Mr Epstein died in prison in August 2019. The press articles prompted the Authority to make an inquiry of Barclays that led to the Chairman of Barclays, Mr Nigel Higgins, sending the Letter (as approved by Mr Staley) on 8 October 2019.

In November 2019, JPM informed the Authority that, as a result of investigations by authorities in the US, it had identified various documents relating to the relationship between Mr Epstein and Mr Staley. The Authority exercised its powers to compel JPM to produce the emails it had identified between Mr Epstein and Mr Staley. The Authority opened an investigation into Mr Staley in December 2019, which led to the present proceedings.

On 29 October 2021, the Authority informed Mr Staley of its preliminary conclusions of its investigation, sending him a draft Annotated Warning Notice to open without prejudice settlement discussions in line with its standard practice. Those discussions did not result in agreement.

On 3 November 2022, the Authority issued a Warning Notice to Mr Staley who provided written and oral representations to the Authority, following which the Authority issued the Decision Notice on 30 May 2023.