Proactive Investors - The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found that former Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) chief executive Jes Staley acted “recklessly” regarding the disclosure of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Barclays put out a statement today summarising the FCA’s decision, saying that the regulator had concluded: “Mr Staley acted recklessly in approving a letter dated 8 October 2019 from Barclays to the FCA regarding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
The Regulatory Decisions Committee at the FCA board concluded that the letter was “misleading” and breached rules of conduct relating to integrity, cooperation with regulators and appropriately disclosing reasonable information to regulators, according to the statement.
The FCA said it had fined Staley £1.8 million and banned him from the financial services industry, after it found Staley's letter contained "two misleading statements" over the nature of his relationship with Epstein and their last point of contact.
Staley intends to take the decision to the Upper Tribunal, a legal tribunal that is independent of the FCA but settles disputes raised by the financial regulator’s decisions, for reconsideration, Barclays said.
Barclays’ board previously suspended Staley’s deferred bonus and executive incentive share plan awards, worth an estimated £17.8 million combined, pending regulatory and legal proceedings.
He was due to get £14.3 million from long-term investment plans that were performance-linked, in addition to a further £1.4 million from executive share plans that had already been assessed.
A total of £2.1 million in unvested bonuses from previous years that were owed to Staley were cancelled due to 'malus', a term that describes a financial penalty incurred due to deal losses.
Staley has not previously been subject to the FCA’s investigation, Barclays said, adding that the regulator had not issued any findings against the bank or any of its other employees.
Epstein committed suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.