Probe Barclays board for Jeffrey Epstein failures

The City watchdog is under mounting pressure to investigate the Barclays board over how it appointed and then stood by former chief executive Jes Staley during the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Figures in the City and Westminster said the Financial Conduct Authority should look into the conduct of the board and why it failed to interrogate Staley deeper about his relationship with the convicted sex offender during his six year tenure at the head of the bank.

Particular focus is on Barclays chairman Nigel Higgins, who took over in May 2019. Higgins was chairman when a letter was sent by Barclays to the regulator in October 2019 which contained a number of ‘misleading’ statements about Staley’s relationship with Epstein.

In the letter, Barclays stated that Staley did not have a close relationship with Epstein and that his last contact had been well before joining Barclays in 2015.

Probe: Figures in the City and Westminster said the Financial Conduct Authority should look into the conduct of the board

In reality, Staley considered Epstein to be one of his ‘deepest’ and ‘most cherished’ friends, and he was in contact with the sex offender three days before his appointment to the top job at Barclays. Fining Staley £1.8m this week and banning him from working in the City for life, the FCA branded the letter ‘misleading’.

Higgins and the rest of the Barclays board are now facing questions as to why they did not probe Staley harder.

MP Harriett Baldwin, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said: ‘The Barclays board has questions to answer.’

Higgins is also under pressure for standing by Staley despite persistent warning signs. In December 2019, Barclays launched its own internal review which concluded that Staley was sufficiently transparent with executives.

That same month Higgins was summoned to see Mark Carney, Bank of England governor at the time, who told Higgins to consider Staley’s position.

And Barclays was still sticking by its chief executive in February 2020 when the Financial Conduct Authority began its investigation into Staley. Staley did not leave his post until November 2021. There are also question marks over Staley’s appointment.

The American was hired in October 2015 by Barclays chairman John McFarlane and head of the nominations committee Sir Michael Rake. Three days before he was officially named chief executive, the Mail on Sunday revealed that the known paedophile Epstein was backing his bid to get the top job.