Barclays Holds Back $29M Bonus From Ex-CEO Tied to Epstein

Jes Staley resigned late last year amid an investigation by UK banking regulators
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2021 6:30 AM CDT
Updated Feb 23, 2022 7:45 AM CST
CEO Out of a Job Over Jeffrey Epstein Ties
Barclays CEO Jes Staley in a 2019 file photo.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Update: More bad news this week for Jes Staley, as UK banking regulators continue to investigate exactly what his relationship was with the late Jeffrey Epstein. The Guardian reports that Barclays will be holding back up to $29 million in bonus and share payouts to its former CEO, who resigned late last year over his ties to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. In its annual report released Wednesday, the bank noted it would be withholding the payments to Staley "pending further developments" in the "regulatory and legal proceedings." When he stepped down in November, the bank noted Staley would receive his fixed $3.3 million annual salary, plus benefits and a pension allowance of $164,000 until the end of October 2022, per CNN Business. Our original story from November follows:

The Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues to reverberate in the upper echelons of banking. Jes Staley, the CEO of UK investment bank Barclays, has resigned over his ties to the late Epstein, reports CNN. Staley, an American, stepped down after investigation by UK regulators. “It appears regulators believe there was a distinct lack of transparency over this relationship,” Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown PLC tells the Wall Street Journal. Details of the investigation have not been released, but Barclays says investigators found no evidence that Staley "saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes." However, Barclays adds that Staley plans to dispute the results of the inquiry, and the bank apparently wants no part of what could be a protracted fight.

"Although I will not be with you for the next chapter of Barclays' story, know that I will be cheering your success from the sidelines," Staley wrote to employees in a memo, per Reuters. Staley's ties to Epstein first emerged last year. Their relationship began in 2000 when Staley worked at JP Morgan, where Epstein was a client. “I thought I knew him well and I didn’t," Staley said last year. "For sure, with hindsight, with what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.” Staley said that his ties to Epstein dropped off when Staley left JP Morgan in 2013 and that his last contact with Epstein was in late 2015. Staley became CEO of Barclays in October of that year, per CNBC. (Staley was previously in hot water over his efforts to unmask a whistleblower.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X