Amanda? She’s thick as s*** with large breasts said banker
Barclays boss’s sexist slurs
A FORmER Barclays banker labelled high-flying financier Amanda Staveley ‘thick as s***’ and made reference to her ‘large breasts’ in a call with a colleague, court documents reveal.
Stephen Jones also idly suggested that miss Staveley was ‘sleeping with’ her client, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, before conceding that she probably wasn’t.
The transcripts of phone calls between mr Jones, a senior executive at Barclays at the time, and the bank’s then compliance officer, Stephen morse, lay bare the sexist attitudes which top bankers held towards certain female business associates. mr Jones recently resigned as head of the influential industry lobby group UK Finance over his sexist comments.
The comments were made public yesterday following an application to the High Court by the Daily mail.
They were going to form part of the evidence which miss Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners, an investment and advisory firm, put to the court in its long-running £1.6billion battle with Barclays.
miss Staveley, 47, who once dated Prince Andrew, is suing the bank over claims that PCP was treated unfairly during Barclays’s 2008 rescue at the height of the financial crisis.
She represented Abu Dhabi investors including Sheikh maning sour, whose money ultimately helped the lender avoid a taxpayer bailout. Barclays disputes her claim for damages of up to £1.6billion, calling it ‘opportunistic and speculative’.
miss Staveley has already drawn the judge’s attention to several distasteful comments made about her by a number of senior Barclays executives.
In the transcripts, when mr morse asked for information on miss Staveley, mr Jones said: ‘She used to be Prince Andrew’s girlfriend.’
mr Jones, who was then managing director of Barclays Capital, added: ‘She was fine but she’s clearly someone who mansour trusts and uses as, you know, his face with the outside world.
‘Whether she’s sleeping with him, or not, I couldn’t tell you. I doubt it to be honest but anyway, I mean, you know…’
In another call, two days later, mr Jones said: ‘She’s thick as s*** as well. Anyway, there you go. You can’t have everything.’
When mr morse again mentioned her relationship with Prince Andrew, mr Jones added: ‘She’s got large breasts, so, you know, sorry, I’ll keep my mouth down.’
miss Staveley’s barrister decided not to refer to the transcripts in court yesterday, saying that his client had accepted mr Jones’s apology.
The court has already heard how Roger ‘Big Dog’ Jenkins, former chairman of Barclays’ middle East business, who earned his nickname for being one of Britain’s best-paid bankers, referred to miss Staveley as a ‘tart’. In the same call, his colleague
‘You can’t have everything’
Richard Boath labelled her a ‘dolly bird’. And miss Staveley has also alleged that mr Jones called PCP a ‘bunch of scumbags’ and ‘f ****** ’.
Even after the trial began last month, by video due to the coronavirus pandemic, Barclays’ lawyers, Simmons & Simmons, were left red-faced after insulttive miss Staveley following the close of proceedings but while the cameras were still rolling.
The firm apologised after lawyers claimed miss Staveley was ‘crashing and burning’, and was ‘obviously lying’ while giving evidence. mr Jones, 56, stepped down as chief execuof UK Finance last month in anticipation of his derogatory comments being made public.
He had held the influential role for three years, after leaving Barclays in 2011.
A spokesman for mr Jones said: ‘Stephen has been very clear his comments were wholly inappropriate and do not meet the standards of language and behaviour we rightly expect.
‘He regrets making these comments and has not sought to defend them. He is and always has been a strong advocate for diversity in all respects.
‘He was very grateful and touched that Amanda Staveley has accepted his apology. She has also told him she was saddened to know he had resigned from UK Finance as she thought he was doing an excellent job.’
‘She dated Prince Andrew’