JPMorgan’s $290m payout to Epstein victims gets approval

A $290 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase & Co. and victims of Jeffrey Epstein has been approved by a federal court judge, who rejected a last minute challenge from attorneys general across the US.

Judge Jed S Rakoff said the “excellent” settlement sent a message across the financial sector.

“It should not be lost that this case sent a message through this very substantial settlement that banking institutions and others such have a responsibility that perhaps was not fully recognized in the past,” he said at a hearing Thursday.

The approval came after top law enforcement officials from 16 states and the District of Columbia objected to the agreement last month, claiming it could prevent them from pursuing their own litigation.

The attorneys general focused on three words in the agreement, carved out in June after a Jane Doe victim sued the bank claiming it knowingly benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking. They point to a clause that releases JPMorgan from future claims by any “sovereign or government” on behalf of victims already in line for damages as part of the class action.

Their challenge threatened to delay the payout to almost 200 victims, a lawyer for the women said. It came five months after JPMorgan settled the case following embarrassing revelations about how it managed Epstein as a client between the late 1990s and 2013. The litigation unearthed details of Epstein’s relationship with Jes Staley, who later stepped down as Barclays Plc chief executive over his ties to the late sex offender.