Warren Demands Answers from Barclays Over Staley-Epstein Links
US Senator Elizabeth Warren has accused Barclays of failing to meaningfully investigate ties between its former CEO Jes Staley and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a private letter to Barclays chair Nigel Higgins, seen by the Guardian, Warren—the senior Democrat on the Senate banking committee—said it was 'deeply unclear how Barclays, supposedly investigating Staley’s connection to Epstein, failed to uncover this decades-long relationship.'
Lawmakers Give Barclays Two Weeks to Respond
The letter, also signed by Congress members Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi, gives Barclays two weeks to answer questions about its handling of Staley’s ties to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges. The lawmakers asked whether the bank reviewed 'deficiencies' in its executive hiring process that allowed it to hire a CEO with extensive ties to a convicted sex offender.
Concerns Raised from UK Court Hearing
The lawmakers raised concerns from a 2023 UK court hearing, where Staley unsuccessfully tried to overturn a regulatory ban from the British banking industry. They noted Higgins’s admission that he had not asked Staley about his last contact with Epstein before declaring to the Financial Conduct Authority that the contact was 'well before' Staley joined Barclays. The letter states: 'It appears that neither you nor any other member of the board conducted any deeper due diligence to verify Staley’s claims and simply took him at his word.'
Governance Questions and US Operations
The lawmakers said the episode raises 'significant governance questions regarding the bank’s ability to hold senior executives accountable for wrongdoing.' They warned that operating in the US, where Barclays holds about $200bn in assets, is a 'privilege' contingent on management’s character and fitness.
Staley’s Grilling and Background
The letter was sent hours before Staley faced a closed-door hearing by the House Oversight Committee, where Khanna and Krishnamoorthi sit. Staley met Epstein in 2000 as head of JP Morgan’s private bank, where Epstein was a client. He became Barclays CEO in 2015 but stepped down in 2021 after UK regulators investigated his relationship with Epstein. Staley was later banned from UK financial jobs for downplaying those ties, which Barclays vouched for in its 2019 letter to the FCA. Staley lost £18m in pay and bonuses from Barclays due to the ruling.
Barclays Response
A Barclays spokesperson said: 'The UK regulator concluded that Barclays was misled by Jes Staley. We conducted an investigation based on the information that was available to us at the time. Since then, new information has emerged that was not available to Barclays that demonstrates Mr Staley misled Barclays and many others as to the nature of the relationship with Epstein. That information relates to activities that predated his employment at Barclays.'
