UT (Tax & Chancery) UT-2023-000064 - [2025] UKUT 00203 (TCC)

Between December 2015 and October 2021, Mr Staley was the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Barclays Bank Plc (“Barclays”). Before he became the CEO of Barclays, Mr Staley was for most of his career employed by JP Morgan Chase (“JPM”), from 1979 to January 2013. Mr Staley 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 in January 2013, 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 (“Mr Higgins”), sending the Letter (as approved by Mr Staley) on 8 October 2019.

The full text of the Letter is as follows:

“I am writing to close the loop on your request for assurance that we have informed ourselves and are comfortable in regard to any association of Jes Staley or Barclays with Jeffrey Epstein. I can now report that Crawford Gillies, Bob Hoyt and I have had separate conversations with Jes where he has described his interactions with Mr. Epstein. Jes has confirmed to us that he did not have a close relationship with Mr. Epstein, and he is resolute that at no time did he see anything that would have suggested or revealed any aspect of the conduct that has been the subject of recent allegations. Jes’ last contact with Mr. Epstein was well before he joined Barclays in 2015.

Separately, Barclays’ Financial Crime team has conducted a thorough review of our records, which did not reveal any client or customer relationship with Mr. Epstein.

In sum, neither our discussions with Jes nor our review of the bank’s records have revealed any cause to suspect that Barclays or Jes have played any role in the activities of Mr. Epstein that have been under investigation.

I trust this addresses your questions.”

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.

Since service of its Statement of Case in July 2023, the Authority came into possession of material which it considers relevant to these proceedings. This material was provided following requests from the Authority to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States (“SEC”) and includes material obtained from Mr Epstein’s Estate, and material arising from proceedings in the United States involving Mr Staley (the “US Proceedings”), including the deposition he gave under oath in those proceedings. Accordingly, in July and August 2024, the Authority served (i) amended Lists of Documents (on 9 July 2024) and (ii) draft amendments to its Statement of Case (on 2 August 2024). Following a case management hearing held in November 2024, the Authority was given permission to amend its Statement of Case and List of Documents and Mr Staley was given permission to file an Amended Reply to the Authority’s Amended Statement of Case.