Barclays Chair told FCA Epstein-Staley ties did not need board review in 2019

By Stefania Spezzati and Iain Withers

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays president Nigel Higgins believed the bank's erstwhile CEO Jes Staley's ties with the precocious disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein did not warrant a committee treatment successful the summertime of 2019 aft Britain's fiscal regulator inquired implicit the matter, according to tribunal documents.

Staley is challenging the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) determination to prohibition him from moving successful the British concern manufacture successful a London tribunal aft it decided helium misled the watchdog implicit his narration with Epstein.

The lawsuit has erstwhile again shone a airy connected Barclays' handling of the departure of Staley, who near the British slope successful 2021, and the ties Epstein had with a assortment of affluent and influential radical astir the world.

The FCA's erstwhile enforcement Jonathan Davidson spoke to Higgins successful mid-August 2019 and asked him whether Barclays had satisfied itself astir the quality of the narration betwixt Staley and Epstein pursuing media articles.

"I callback informing Mr Davison that determination had been nary committee discussion, but that Mr Staley had travel to maine and told maine astir the quality of the relationship" with Epstein, Higgins said successful a witnesser statement.

Higgins told Davidson that helium "did not deliberation it needed a committee discussion, but that we would get thing to him erstwhile we were each backmost from holiday."

Higgins aboriginal asked chap Barclays committee subordinate Crawford Gillies to talk to Staley astir the matter, who helium said raised nary contented and did not suggest reporting it to the board.

Later successful 2019, Barclays wrote to the FCA stating that Staley had told the slope helium did not person a adjacent narration with Epstein.

Staley's ties to Epstein raised questions connected whether president Higgins and the bank's committee decently vetted the erstwhile CEO's narration with Epstein. Last month, the London-based slope said successful its yearly study it had extended Higgins' chairmanship for different 3 years.

In his written testimony, Staley said that helium "was ne'er asked to supply much than I did, nor did I see that the petition for accusation made by the FCA to Mr Higgins connected 15 August 2019 needed maine to bash so".

The FCA alleges Staley "recklessly" approved the letter, which it has said contained 2 misleading statements astir however adjacent helium was to Epstein and that his past interaction with the financier was "well earlier helium joined Barclays successful 2015".

The FCA's lawsuit centres connected a cache of implicit 1,000 emails betwixt Staley and Epstein, including those from JPMorgan successful which Staley described their relationship arsenic "profound".