Two of the UK’s biggest financial regulators are investigating the ties between US financier Jeffrey Epstein and Barclays’ CEO Jes Staley, the bank has revealed.
Epstein, who also had ties to US president Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Now it has been revealed that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are investigating Staley’s relationship with Epstein.
The bank has said that it has looked into Staley’s relationship with Epstein and believed he had been sufficiently transparent about it when Staley said he had not seen Epstein since taking over as CEO in 2015, Reuters reported.
“I thought I knew him well, and I didn’t. I’m sure with hindsight of what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” Staley said.
New York Times has previously reported that Epstein referred many clients to Staley when he ran JP Morgan Investment Bank and that Staley had visited Epstein in prison between 2008 and 2009. Epstein served time for eliciting prostitution.
Bloomberg has reported that Staley visited Epstein’s private island in 2015.
Staley has previously been probed by the FCA and the PRA after he tried to identify a whistleblower. He was fined £642,000. Barclays also slashed £500,000 off his bonus as punishment for the scandal.
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
