Former Barclays CEO Jes Staley faces US congressional hearing over Epstein ties

Jes Staley walks near the court in London on 7 March 2025, on the day Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey gives evidence on Jeffrey Epstein. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters View image in fullscreen Jes Staley walks near the court in London on 7 March 2025, on the day Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey gives evidence on Jeffrey Epstein. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters Former Barclays CEO Jes Staley faces US congressional panel over Epstein ties Staley is latest high-profile figure to testify before House amid investigation into Epstein, convicted sex offender Former Barclays boss Jes Staley is due to be questioned by US lawmakers on Thursday in a closed-door interview about his past ties to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . Staley, who spent more than three decades at JPMorgan Chase before joining Barclays in 2015, is the latest in a series of high-profile figures to appear in front of the House committee on oversight and reform as part of its investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial over child sex-trafficking charges. A transcript of Staley’s interview is expected to be released at a later date, as the panel has done with previous witnesses, including Bill and Hillary Clinton , Bill Gates and Goldman Sachs’ former top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler . Staley’s ties with the well-connected billionaire spelled the end of his career, with the American banker having resigned as the chief executive of Barclays in November 2021 after UK regulators launched an investigation into Staley’s ties to Epstein and Barclays said the pair “did not have a close relationship”. However, the FCA investigation, triggered by a cache of 1,200 emails from Staley’s former employer JP Morgan, concluded that the pair were “indeed close” and had a relationship that “went beyond one that was professional in nature”. The former Barclays chief was eventually banned from taking any job in the UK’s financial sector for playing down those ties. US senator accuses Barclays of ‘failure’ to investigate ex-CEO’s ties to Epstein Read more Barclays said in a recent statement that the FCA concluded the bank was also was “misled by Jes Staley”. The bank added that its own internal investigation was “based on the information that was available to us at the time”. Staley unsuccessfully tried to challenge the regulator’s ruling, resulting in a court hearing that publicly detailed Epstein’s role in Staley’s life. During that hearing, Staley admitted to having sex with a member of Epstein’s staff in New York but agreed with a lawyer during cross-examination that he would describe the intercourse as “consensual”. Judges ultimately sided with the FCA, upholding its ban and scuppering efforts to restore his reputation. He also lost out on £18m ($24m) worth of pay and bonuses from Barclays as a result of the ruling. After losing his legal challenge, Staley said he was “disappointed” by the outcome but was “never dishonest”. He previously sai