JP Morgan sues Staley over liability for Epstein damages
JP MORGAN is demanding that Jes Staley hands back more than $80m (£67m) as part of a lawsuit against the former Barclays chief.
The bank is suing Mr Staley, the former head of its private bank, over his relationship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Court documents filed in New York show that JP Morgan wants Mr Staley to return all his 2006-2013 compensation.
The Wall Street titan is seeking to hold Mr Staley, who later became chief executive of Barclays, personally liable for any penalties the bank may face amid claims it enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes.
JP Morgan faces two separate civil lawsuits, which pointed to Mr Staley’s communications with Epstein as evidence that the bank should have known about their relationship. Mr Staley is not a defendant in either claim.
JP Morgan now argues that Mr Staley should be responsible for paying damages if it ultimately loses these cases.
The bank said: “The plaintiffs have made troubling allegations concerning the conduct of our former employee Jes Staley, and if true he should be held responsible. If they are true, he violated this duty by putting his own personal interests ahead of the company’s.” Mr Staley, 66, was Epstein’s banker when he worked at JP Morgan. He stepped down as Barclays boss in 2021 after a regulatory probe into his ties with the sex offender.
Last month, JP Morgan admitted in court documents filed in New York that Mr Staley had inappropriate personal conversations with Epstein using his work email. However, the bank claimed the emails failed to show that minors were victimised or that “force, fraud or coercion” were used against women.
JP Morgan also argued that Mr Staley’s use of work email for inappropriate exchanges with Epstein did not bring the actions “into the ambit of his employment”.
The documents were filed as part of JP Morgan’s attempt to dismiss legal action brought by the US Virgin Islands, which accuses the bank of facilitating sex trafficking by ignoring red flags and providing banking services to Epstein.