- JPMorgan Chase has sued its former investment banking chief Jes Staley over his ties to disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein, alleging Staley is responsible for any legal fallout from a pair of lawsuits against the bank.
- The company on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Staley who was seeking to recoup his last eight years of salary at JPMorgan and hold him liable for potential payments in lawsuits filed by the New York-based bank.
- As the pressure on the bank grew, JPMorgan shifted from defending its former leader in recent weeks to blaming it for any fallout from Epstein.
Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays
Justin Solomon | CNBC
JPMorgan Chase has sued its former investment banking chief Jes Staley over his ties to disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein, alleging Staley is responsible for any legal fallout from a pair of lawsuits against the bank.
The company on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Staley who was seeking to recoup his last eight years of salary at JPMorgan and hold him liable for potential payments in lawsuits filed by the New York-based bank. The compensation alone is over $80 million.
The legal maneuver is the latest twist in cases that have embroiled the largest US bank in terms of assets. Late last year, the US Virgin Islands and a group of alleged Epstein victims sued the bank, accusing it of facilitating the sex offender’s crimes. JPMorgan kept Epstein as a private client until 2013, in part because Staley vouched for him, despite internal concerns after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of sex crimes.
As the pressure on the bank grew, JPMorgan shifted from defending its former leader in recent weeks to blaming it for any fallout from Epstein.
One of the internal emails published in the recent lawsuits mentioned a review of the Epstein account to be carried out by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon; the bank said it had not seen evidence that the examination had taken place. The plaintiffs have sought to question Dimon in the case, an effort the bank is resisting.
“To the extent that Staley knew about, participated in, or witnessed sexual abuse associated with Epstein and did not report or actively conceal it to JPMorgan,” Staley, not the bank, is responsible. injuries caused by Epstein. , JPMorgan said in its Wednesday filing.
JPMorgan has also identified Staley as the “powerful financial executive” accused of sexually assaulting one of Epstein’s alleged victims in one of the lawsuits he is facing.
Staley’s attorney, Kathleen Harris of Arnold & Porter, declined to comment. Staley, who left JPMorgan in 2013 and later became CEO of Barclays before leaving the London-based bank in 2021, has denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. Epstein died by apparent suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in the United States.
Still, JPMorgan said in the filing that it does not accept that the two plaintiffs’ allegations were accurate and, in a statement, called the lawsuits “misplaced and without merit.”
“The plaintiffs have made troubling allegations regarding the conduct of our former employee Jes Staley, and if true, he should be held accountable for his actions,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said.
“We expect all our employees at all levels of the company to act with honesty and integrity,” she added. “If these allegations against Staley are true, he breached that duty by putting his personal interests before those of the company.”
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