Jes Staley

James Edward Staley is an American banker who spent more than three decades at JPMorgan Chase, rose to run its asset management and then its investment bank, and served as group chief executive of Barclays from December 2015 until November 2021. During his JPMorgan years he was the senior executive who managed and advocated for the bank's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a private-banking client from 1998 to 2013. In October 2023 the Financial Conduct Authority banned Staley from holding senior management functions in UK financial services and fined him for recklessly approving a letter that misled the regulator about his relationship with Epstein, a decision the Upper Tribunal upheld in June 2025.¹²³

JPMorgan Career

Staley joined Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York in 1979 after graduating from Bowdoin College, and spent the 1980s in the bank's Latin America division, including as head of corporate finance for Brazil and as general manager of the firm's Brazilian brokerage.⁴ He led JPMorgan Asset Management from 2001 to 2009 and then ran the corporate and investment bank from 2009 to 2013.⁵ At the height of his JPMorgan career he was discussed as a potential successor to chief executive Jamie Dimon.⁴

Staley managed the private-banking relationship between JPMorgan and Epstein, who became a client of the bank's private bank in 1998.⁶ In a July 2011 email, JPMorgan general counsel Stephen Cutler wrote to Staley and asset-and-wealth-management head Mary Erdoes that Epstein was "not an honorable person in any way" and "should not be a client," and Cutler later testified that Staley and Erdoes made the decision to keep Epstein.⁶ Epstein also functioned as a source of referrals and introductions for Staley and the bank, including to wealthy potential clients.⁷

In 2013 Staley left JPMorgan after more than 30 years to become a managing partner at the hedge fund BlueMountain Capital.⁴ JPMorgan terminated its banking relationship with Epstein the same year.⁶ After BlueMountain, Staley was recruited to lead Barclays, joining as group chief executive on December 1, 2015.⁵

Epstein Emails and the 2015 Island Visit

Court filings in litigation brought against JPMorgan by the Government of the United States Virgin Islands disclosed that Staley exchanged roughly 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JPMorgan account between 2008 and 2012.⁷ In a message dated November 1, 2009, sent from Epstein while Epstein was serving his Florida sentence, Epstein wrote, "I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound."⁷ In a 2010 exchange Staley wrote "That was fun. Say hi to Snow White," and when Epstein asked "what character would you like next," Staley answered "Beauty and the Beast"; Staley later said he had no recollection of the messages.⁷

Staley and his family visited Epstein's private island, Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, on more than one occasion.⁷ After an April 2015 visit, which Staley described as his last in-person meeting with Epstein, Staley emailed Epstein, "Thanks for the flight and thanks for the lunch. Your place is crazy, and special ... I count u as a deep friend. The girls seemed to enjoy the sail. All the best Jes."⁸ The April 2015 trip occurred months before Staley was named Barclays chief executive in October 2015.⁸

JPMorgan filed a third-party complaint against Staley in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 9, 2023, within the Virgin Islands action.⁹ The complaint asserted indemnification, contribution, breach of fiduciary duty, and "faithless servant" claims, alleging Staley concealed his personal activities with Epstein, and sought to recover compensation paid to him from at least 2006 through 2013.⁹ Staley moved to dismiss, arguing JPMorgan was using him as a "shield" for the bank's own failures.¹⁰

Barclays and the FCA Ban

While Barclays chief executive, Staley was separately sanctioned for attempting to identify a whistleblower who had sent letters criticizing a senior Barclays hire; in 2018 the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority fined him 642,430 pounds and Barclays cut his pay.¹¹ Staley remained chief executive until November 2021, when he resigned as the FCA and PRA conclusions about his Epstein relationship became known.²

The FCA's case centered on an October 2019 letter that Barclays sent to the regulator, which Staley approved, stating that he "did not have a close relationship" with Epstein and had "ceased contact" with Epstein before joining Barclays.¹ The FCA found those statements misleading, citing emails in which Staley described Epstein as one of his "deepest" and "most cherished" friends, and evidence that Staley was in contact with Epstein in the days before his Barclays appointment was announced on October 28, 2015, and indirectly in 2016 and 2017.¹ On October 12, 2023 the FCA issued a decision banning Staley from senior management functions and imposing a fine of about 1.8 million pounds, with the penalties suspended pending his appeal.¹

The Upper Tribunal heard Staley's reference and, on June 26, 2025, dismissed it and upheld the prohibition, finding that he had acted recklessly and with a lack of integrity and that the evidence of his Epstein relationship was "overwhelming."³ The tribunal reduced the financial penalty from about 1.8 million pounds to 1.1 million pounds, reflecting deferred Barclays shares that he forfeited.³ During the proceedings Staley testified that he had a sexual encounter with a member of Epstein's staff years earlier, and he maintained that he had not been dishonest.¹²