In a statement the FCA said that Staley had “recklessly misled the FCA and acted with a lack of integrity”.
Staley is appealing the decision.
The regulator found that Staley, the chief executive of Barclays until standing down in November 2021, approved a letter sent by the bank to the FCA containing two misleading statements. The first related to the nature of his relationship with Epstein and the second concerned their last contact.
Epstein was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019 when he killed himself in prison. He had previously been convicted for soliciting sex from a minor in 2008.
In August 2019, the regulator asked Barclays to explain what it had done to satisfy itself that there was no impropriety in Staley’s relationship with Epstein.
The letter, sent by Barclays to the FCA, had relied on information provided by Staley who had confirmed it was fair and accurate.
The bank claimed that Staley did not have a close relationship with Epstein. Yet in emails between the two men, Staley described Epstein as one of his “deepest” and “most cherished” friends.
The letter also claimed Staley ceased contact with Epstein well before he joined Barclays. The FCA’s investigation found that he had in fact been in contact with Epstein in the days leading up to his appointment as chief executive of the firm in 2015.
The regulator said that while Staley did not draft the letter there was no excuse for his failure to correct the misleading statements when he was the only person at Barclays who knew the full extent of his personal relationship with Epstein and the specific timings of his contact with him.
The FCA has found that Staley was aware of the risk that his association with Epstein posed to his career.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “A CEO needs to exercise sound judgement and set an example to staff at their firm. Mr Staley failed to do this. We consider that he misled both the FCA and the Barclays board about the nature of his relationship with Mr Epstein.
“Mr Staley is an experienced industry professional and held a prominent position within financial services. It is right to prevent him from holding a senior position in the financial services industry if we cannot rely on him to act with integrity by disclosing uncomfortable truths about his close personal relationship with Mr Epstein.”
