Jes Staley

Jes Staley is a former chief executive of Barclays and a former senior executive at JPMorgan Chase. His relationship with Jeffrey Epstein led to his departure from Barclays, a 2025 regulatory ban from senior UK finance roles, and figured in JPMorgan’s $290 million settlement with Epstein’s victims.

1,200 Emails with Epstein

Court filings in the JPMorgan litigation revealed that Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein between 2008 and 2012 from his JPMorgan email account, during a period when Staley held senior private banking and wealth management roles and, from 2009, led the investment bank. The correspondence continued after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea to sex crimes in Florida.

The messages were cited as evidence of a close personal relationship. In one November 2009 email Staley wrote, “I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound.” The UK regulator later noted that Staley had described Epstein as one of his “deepest” and “most cherished” friends. One email cited in the litigation was sent from Epstein’s Little St. James property in the U.S. Virgin Islands in November 2009, indicating Staley had visited the island.

Departure from Barclays

In November 2021, Staley stepped down as CEO of Barclays after the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority investigated his characterization of his relationship with Epstein. JPMorgan had provided the FCA with documents about Staley’s Epstein ties, and the investigation examined whether he had been transparent with regulators about the nature and timing of that relationship.

FCA Ban and Fine

In 2023 the FCA decided to ban Staley from holding senior management roles in financial services. The regulator found that Staley had approved an October 2019 letter from Barclays to the FCA that contained misleading statements — namely that he did not have a close relationship with Epstein and that the two had last been in contact well before he joined Barclays. In fact, Staley had been in contact with Epstein in the days before his appointment as Barclays CEO was announced on 28 October 2015.

Staley appealed to the Upper Tribunal. On 26 June 2025 the Tribunal upheld the FCA’s prohibition, finding that Staley had “acted recklessly” when he signed off the letter, that parts of his evidence lacked credibility, and that he had shown no remorse. The FCA had proposed a £1.8 million fine; the Tribunal reduced it to £1.1 million after Barclays decided not to permit Staley to receive deferred shares he could otherwise have been entitled to. The FCA issued its Final Notice on 23 July 2025. Staley said he was disappointed with the outcome and referred to his “long and distinguished career.”

JPMorgan Settlement

JPMorgan Chase reached a $290 million settlement with Epstein’s victims in June 2023. The underlying lawsuit alleged the bank had provided Epstein loans and allowed large cash withdrawals from 1998 through August 2013 despite awareness of his conduct, and that it continued serving him as a client after his 2008 guilty plea.

JPMorgan separately sued Staley, alleging he had hidden Epstein’s crimes to keep him as a client and seeking to hold him responsible for related costs.

What Is Established

Staley has not been charged with any crime, and he has denied knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities. What is documented is that he maintained extensive personal correspondence with Epstein after the 2008 conviction, visited Epstein’s U.S. Virgin Islands property, was found by a UK tribunal to have recklessly misled the financial regulator about that relationship, and lost his position at one of the world’s largest banks. His former employer paid $290 million to settle claims brought by trafficking victims.

Documents

Primary-source records that document Jes Staley’s relationship with Epstein. Being named in these documents is not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing; Staley has not been charged with any crime and denies knowledge of Epstein’s offenses.

• Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase — court records (S.D.N.Y., 2022) — The USVI’s lawsuit against JPMorgan over its handling of Epstein’s accounts (No. 1:22-cv-10904). Filings in this case put on the record roughly 1,200 emails between Staley and Epstein and the bank’s own third-party claim against Staley; JPMorgan settled with the USVI for $75 million in September 2023. Staley is not identified in the Jan. 2024 Giuffre v. Maxwell unsealing.