(Bloomberg) — Lawyers for former Barclays Plc boss Jes Staley argued that the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein had “the most remarkable network of contacts” that benefited Staley professionally, as they kicked off a court challenge against his lifetime ban from financial services.
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On Monday, Staley attended a London court to hear his lawyers push back against the Financial Conduct Authority’s findings that he misled both Barclays and the authority’s own interviewers when asked about the nature of his friendship with Epstein. The lawyers said that a set of emails showed that the pair had a “close professional relationship” but such a level of contact was normal for investment bankers.
“Anyone reading the email correspondence in its entirety should reach the clear opinion that the range of his contacts and influence is not only astonishing but is probably without precedent,” the lawyers said in a filing. “The value of Mr. Epstein to Mr. Staley is obvious, given Mr. Staley’s own prominent position in banking and the financial sector.”
Staley is set to give evidence in person later in the trial, the first time he has testified in public about his relationship with Epstein. The case, the most high-profile legal battle between the watchdog and any executive in recent years, revolves around a letter Barclays sent to the FCA in 2019 that was intended to reassure the authority but would instead prompt the investigation.
The letter set out the extent and timing of the pair’s interaction, stating that Staley confirmed to the bank he “did not have a close relationship” with Epstein and he ceased contact “well before he joined Barclays in 2015.”
The FCA says Barclays’ letter was misleading, and recently widened its case to accuse Staley of misleading its own investigators in interviews. The regulator is relying on the email cache, obtained with US assistance from the Epstein estate in January last year, that described a closeness that contradicts Staley’s own statements.
“While the origin of the relationship was professional it evolved into a personal relationship,” Leigh-Ann Mulcahy, the FCA’s lawyer, told the judge.
For the FCA, the case is also a test of its ability to enforce its own rules on financiers being “fit and proper” to work in the industry.
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