The FCA’s decision to ban Jes Staley, former chief executive of Barclays, from holding senior management roles in the financial services industry has been upheld by the Upper Tribunal.

The regulator proposed to fine the former Barclays chief £1.8m and ban him from holding a senior management or influence function in the financial services sector in November 2023.

Mr Staley referred his Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal to appeal his case.

The Tribunal upheld the ban but reduced the fine to £1.1m as, after the FCA issued its Decision Notice, Barclays decided not to permit Mr Staley to receive deferred shares to which he could have been entitled.

The ban and fine relates to a letter sent to the FCA approved by Mr Staley that contained misleading statements about the nature of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and their last point of contact. 

The letter claimed that Mr Staley did not have a close relationship with Mr Epstein. In reality, in emails between the two Mr Staley described Mr Epstein as one of his 'deepest' and 'most cherished' friends.

The letter from Barclays to the FCA also claimed Mr Staley ceased contact with Mr Epstein well before he joined Barclays. However, Mr Staley was in fact in contact with Mr Epstein in the days leading up to his appointment as CEO being announced on 28 October 2015. Mr Staley joined Barclays in December 2015.

The FCA said 100s of emails were key to its investigation and showed that the two had a close relationship over many years. The pair were also in contact much later than Mr Staley claimed in his letter. The emails showed Mr Staley was in contact indirectly with Mr Epstein in 2016 and 2017.

The FCA alleged that Mr Staley acted recklessly when he signed off the letter and the Tribunal agreed. 

They found that Mr Staley had a clear motive for downplaying the relationship and that, at the time he described his relationship to Barclays, he had no reason to believe the full position about it would emerge through the emails obtained by the FCA. The Tribunal also found that some of Mr Staley’s evidence lacked credibility, and that he has shown no remorse for his conduct.

Mr Staley was found to have acted with a lack of integrity, to have failed to be open and co-operative and to have failed to make appropriate disclosures to the FCA. 

Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said: “Mr Staley chose to take a calculated risk that we would take his inaccurate account of his relationship with Mr Epstein at face value. He hoped that the truth would never come to light and that he would get away with it. Such a serious lack of integrity flies in the face of the requirements we place on those at the top. 

“The Tribunal’s decision shows that we can and will act to protect the financial system by holding those in senior roles to the high standards required of them.”