The advice was delivered in a beach-side gazebo on a private island in the Caribbean: If you need a private banker, talk to Jes Staley.
The speaker was Jeffrey Epstein, the remarks captured on tape in 2003 -- long before Epstein was accused of sexually abusing and trafficking hundreds of young women and girls on that very island.
Now, six months after his death in a Manhattan jail cell, his 15-year relationship with Staley has once again come to the fore. Today Staley is chief executive officer of the venerable Barclays Plc, and British authorities want to know more about the banker’s ties to the mysterious financier who became an infamous symbol of wealth, privilege and abuse.
“It’s clear in my own mind, going all the way back to 2015 when I joined Barclays -- I have been very transparent with the bank and have been very willing and open to discuss the relationship that I had with him,” Staley, 63, told Bloomberg Television on Thursday.
Barclays has said the CEO retains the “full confidence” of the board. Still, much hinges on the outcome of the investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority, which started inquiries last summer after press reports revealed the links between the men, a person familiar with the process said. The FCA opened a formal probe in December into how Staley characterized his relationship with Epstein.
The turmoil at Barclays is the latest indicator of how the late pedophile has haunted elite financial and social circles ever since he was found dead in his Manhattan cell. He was arrested on sexual trafficking charges in July and accused of abusing and exploiting dozens of girls.
Those who’ve been on the defensive include Leslie Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret, who until Epstein’s first arrest in Florida more than a decade ago relied on him to manage money. Then there’s Glenn Dubin, who last month announced he would retire from his hedge fund, and Prince Andrew, who was forced to step back from royal duties after a disastrous TV interview, in which he tried to explain his friendship with the convict.
Staley reiterated Thursday that he knew Epstein since 2000 when he was head of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s private bank and was told to strike up a professional relationship with the financial adviser.
Epstein regularly brought Staley business and vice versa.
“They know they can call up and ask me, you know, there’s an opportunity here and might take a very large sum of money, $100 million or more, whatever the number may be,” Epstein bragged to journalist David Bank in 2003. “And I can give them an answer by the end of the telephone call.”