By Anna Isaac, David Benoit and Simon Clark
U.K. investigators are examining visits by Barclays PLC Chief
Executive Jes Staley to Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island
as part of a probe into whether Mr. Staley told the truth about his
association with the convicted sex offender.
In a statement, a Barclays spokesman said Mr. Staley visited the
island, Little St. James, twice, both times with his wife. Neither
the bank nor Mr. Staley had previously acknowledged the visits
publicly.
Investigators are comparing disclosures Mr. Staley made to
Barclays -- and which the bank subsequently made to U.K. financial
regulators -- with a trove of emails and other documents handed
over by Mr. Staley's former employer, JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
according to people familiar with the investigation.
Mr. Staley has said his relationship with Mr. Epstein was
professional and began in 2000 when he was head of JPMorgan's
private bank and the financier was a client. He told journalists on
Feb. 13 that his interactions with Mr. Epstein began to "taper off"
after he left JPMorgan in 2013 and that the last time he had
contact with him was in the "middle to fall" of 2015. He became
Barclays CEO in December 2015.
"Mr. Staley visited Little St. James twice, accompanied by his
wife on both visits," a Barclays spokesman told The Wall Street
Journal. "The visits to Little St. James, and his meetings at the
Manhattan address where Epstein maintained an office, were
disclosed to the board."
The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation
Authority are examining "Mr. Staley's characterization to the
company of his relationship with Mr. Epstein and the subsequent
description of that relationship in the company's response to the
FCA," Barclays said in a Feb. 13 statement.
At that time, the Barclays board said Mr. Staley had been
"sufficiently transparent" about the nature and extent of his
relationship with Mr. Epstein.
The FCA, the U.K.'s financial watchdog, determines whether
executives are "fit and proper" to lead.
Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution counts in
Florida.
This year, prosecutors in the U.S. Virgin Islands, of which
Little St. James is part, alleged Mr. Epstein abused hundreds of
young women and girls until 2018. The prosecutors said that for
nearly two decades, Mr. Epstein brought girls as young as 11 to his
secluded property on Little St. James.
Mr. Staley had a large sailboat custom-designed, which he and
his family have regularly taken to the Caribbean. He once took the
boat to Mr. Epstein's island, Bloomberg has reported.
JPMorgan provided the emails and other documents to the FCA and
regulators in other countries who were probing Mr. Epstein,
according to people familiar with the situation.
Sherborne Investors, which owns more than 5% of Barclays, said
on March 2 that Mr. Staley should step down because of his links to
Mr. Epstein. "We believe that it would be in everyone's interest to
draw a line under this destabilizing situation, which has become a
circus, as soon as possible," Sherborne said.
Mr. Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail in August last
year. His death was ruled a suicide.
Last summer, following renewed media interest about the
relationship between Mr. Staley and Mr. Epstein, Mr. Staley
"volunteered" to Barclays Chairman Nigel Higgins and executives "an
explanation of his relationship with Mr. Epstein," Barclays said in
February.
The FCA made an inquiry into the relationship and Barclays
responded, the bank said. Regulators commenced a formal
investigation in December, which is ongoing, Mr. Staley told
journalists on Feb 13.
Some Barclays employees have expressed concerns to the
regulators about the truthfulness of disclosures made by Mr. Staley
and the bank, according to people familiar with the FCA probe.
"I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey
Epstein," Mr. Staley told journalists in February. He said the
investigation was focused on his "transparency and openness with
the bank" and that he had been "very transparent."
On Feb. 25, Mr. Staley told colleagues that he was confident he
would remain in his position and is "going nowhere."
Some people who have worked with Mr. Staley for years, including
some who consider him a friend, have questioned his judgment in a
series of missteps.
In 2018, Mr. Staley was fined for attempting to unmask a
whistleblower, which U.K. regulators called a "serious error of
judgment." U.S. authorities fined him over the episode. He
apologized to the board after the incident.
He also waded into a messy dispute between KKR & Co. and his
wife's brother, causing the U.S. private-equity giant to pull
business from the bank. People he spoke to at the time said he told
them he hadn't been acting in his capacity as CEO of a bank, but
rather as a family member.
Write to Anna Isaac at anna.isaac@wsj.com, David Benoit at
david.benoit@wsj.com and Simon Clark at simon.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 06, 2020 05:44 ET (10:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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