(Bloomberg) — Jes Staley said he had sex with a member of Jeffrey Epstein’s staff at a New York apartment owned by the disgraced pedophile financier’s brother.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Giving evidence as part of his legal challenge against UK regulators, the former Barclays Plc chief said that he’d had a consensual sexual relationship with a woman who worked for Epstein. He said that he didn’t believe that the convicted sex offender was aware of the relationship.
A lawyer for the Financial Conduct Authority said the woman had previously brought a claim against Epstein’s estate. The FCA’s lawyer added that the woman had asked for the court to exclude Staley from any settlement she reached with the estate.
Asked about his visit to the apartment, Staley said he had only been there once. He said he got to know the woman while waiting for Epstein, who was often late for their meetings. Epstein was a client of JPMorgan Chase & Co., where Staley worked until 2013.
Staley is attempting to overturn a lifetime ban from the UK financial regulator, which found that he “recklessly misled” it over his relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019 in a New York jail cell. Staley has long maintained he had no knowledge of Epstein’s wrongdoing.
The FCA said that it was not asking the court to consider whether Staley had been involved in or had any knowledge of Epstein’s misconduct. It said it was raising the incident as an example that showed the relationship between the two men was close and “went beyond one that was professional in nature.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Staley was asked about an infamous email exchange with Epstein where the two talked about Disney characters.
In July 2010, Staley wrote to Epstein: “That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.” Epstein replied: “what character would you like next?” Staley replied, “Beauty and the Beast….” To which Epstein responded: “well one side is availble [sic].” The correspondence emerged in a separate lawsuit, which has since been settled.
“They are strange emails and I don’t recall them,” Staley said Wednesday.
“They would not be sent between two people who were not close,” the FCA’s lawyer Leigh-Ann Mulcahy responded.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.