JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the largest bank in the United States by assets, headquartered in New York City and led since 2006 by chief executive Jamie Dimon. From 1998 to 2013 it maintained Jeffrey Epstein as a private-banking and wealth-management client across the period during which Epstein was arrested, pleaded guilty to a Florida prostitution charge, and registered as a sex offender. In 2023 the bank settled two lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York before Jed Rakoff, paying 290 million dollars to a class of Epstein's victims and 75 million dollars to the Government of the United States Virgin Islands, and it filed a third-party claim seeking to shift liability to its former executive Jes Staley.¹²³

The Epstein Banking Relationship

Epstein became a client of JPMorgan's private bank in 1998, and the relationship was managed by Staley, who led JPMorgan Asset Management and later the investment bank.¹ The bank retained Epstein through his 2006 arrest in Palm Beach, Florida, his 2008 guilty plea to soliciting a minor for prostitution, and his registration as a sex offender, generating fees and using Epstein as a referral source for wealthy prospective clients.¹ Mary Erdoes, who ran the bank's asset and wealth management division, was identified in victims' filings as a defender of keeping Epstein as a client.⁴

In a July 2011 email, JPMorgan general counsel Stephen Cutler told Erdoes and Staley that Epstein was "not an honorable person in any way" and "should not be a client," and Cutler later testified under oath that Staley and Erdoes made the decision to retain him.⁴ Plaintiffs alleged that the bank processed payments consistent with the trafficking operation, including cash withdrawals and transfers to women and to alleged co-conspirators, and that JPMorgan underreported suspicious activity to authorities.⁴ A deposition indicated that Dimon said he was not aware of a 2011 internal warning about Epstein.⁵

JPMorgan exited the Epstein relationship in 2013, the same year Staley left the bank for BlueMountain Capital.⁴ Epstein then moved his accounts to Deutsche Bank, which banked him from 2013 until 2018.⁶

The 2023 Litigation Before Judge Rakoff

Two suits proceeded against JPMorgan in the Southern District of New York before Judge Rakoff. One was brought by a survivor identified as Jane Doe 1 on behalf of a class of women abused by Epstein, alleging the bank knowingly benefited from and facilitated his sex trafficking.² The other was brought by the Government of the United States Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned Little Saint James, alleging the bank ignored red flags about his conduct on the island.³ Both suits asserted that JPMorgan kept Epstein despite documented internal concern and processed transactions that supported the abuse.²³

On March 9, 2023 JPMorgan filed a third-party complaint against Staley within the Virgin Islands action, asserting indemnification, contribution, breach of fiduciary duty, and "faithless servant" claims and seeking to recover compensation paid to him from at least 2006 through 2013.⁷ The complaint alleged Staley had concealed his personal activities with Epstein and misrepresented Epstein's character to the bank.⁷ Staley moved to dismiss, contending the bank was using him as a "shield" for its own failures.⁸

In June 2023 JPMorgan agreed to pay 290 million dollars to resolve the survivors' class claims, and in September 2023 it agreed to pay 75 million dollars to settle the Virgin Islands suit.²³ The bank did not admit wrongdoing in either settlement.³ The Virgin Islands settlement allocated 30 million dollars to charitable organizations, 25 million dollars to strengthen anti-trafficking law enforcement, and 20 million dollars to attorneys' fees.³ Judge Rakoff granted final approval of the 290 million dollar class settlement at a hearing in November 2023.⁹