Chief Executive of Barclays Epstein said he was “deeply disappointed and appalled” by the “corruption and corruption” revealed in the files as the bank deals with the fallout from its former boss Jess Staley’s relationship with a convicted child sex offender.
In his first public comments on the matter since the US Department of Justice began publishing related documents Jeffrey Epstein In December, CS Venkatakrishnan said his thoughts went out to Epstein’s victims, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting child sex trafficking charges.
“I am very, very deeply dismayed and appalled at the moral degradation and corruption that you are reading about in the latest set of installments. You know, my heart really goes out to the victims of this scandal and these crimes,” he said.
However, the Barclays boss – speaking as the bank reported annual profits – stopped short of commenting directly on the allegations against his predecessor Staley.
The Guardian reported last week that in 2019, US prosecutors Allegations of rape and bodily harm against Staley were reviewedforced her to touch his genitals during a massage before raping her and left “blood marks” on the hands of the woman he called “Tinkerbell”.
There is no evidence that prosecutors have decided to pursue charges. Staley, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, has not responded to Guardian requests for comment either directly or through his lawyers for several months. He was never charged with the allegations.
During a UK court hearing in 2025, Staley admitted having Epstein had sex with the crew in New York, but admitted during cross-examination to an attorney that he would describe the intercourse as “consensual.”
Asked by Venkatakrishnan whether the allegations in the Epstein files had prompted further internal reviews at Barclays, the bank’s media head said: “We have nothing further to add on that matter.”
It comes as the bank and its chairman, Nigel Higgins, battle A class action lawsuit in the US It claims investors were defrauded and misled over Staley’s relationship with Epstein.
A US class action suit led by pension funds in New York and Missouri accuses Barclays, Higgins and Staley of repeatedly misrepresenting Staley’s history with Epstein to the media and investors, starting in July 2019, weeks after Epstein was arrested on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.
They claim they were ultimately duped after learning of the true nature of Staley and Epstein’s relationship only after the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publicly released the findings of its investigation and banned Staley from the City. In October 2023. The news caused the value of their shares and American Depositary Receipts to fall, resulting in “substantial financial losses,” they argued.
Higgins and Staley have not commented on the case.
Staley has Resigned from Barclays two years agoin 2021, on the preliminary findings of the FCA investigation. Staley Failed to lift the ban He returned to the UK’s financial sector last year and lost £18m worth of pay and bonuses from Barclays as a result of the ruling.
Venkatakrishnan’s comments were echoed by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey last week. He was “shocked” by the revelations. In the Epstein files.
The information contained therein It seems to be shared With Epstein by former UK business secretary Peter Mandelson regarding highly confidential government talks after the 2008 financial crisis. Mandelson resigned from the Labor Party and the House of Lords last week as a result of the revelations.
Bailey said: “I don’t want to be pious, but this is for all of us: How do we live in a society where this happened and there was a cover-up? I think that’s a very basic question we have to ask ourselves.”
HSBC and Barclays are facing a $12bn (£8.7bn) claim by US heiress Tanya Dick-Stock against a Jersey trust linked to the Epstein scandal. The Times, which first reported the lawsuit, said both banks declined to comment.
Barclays has forecast a 13% rise in profits to £9.1bn in 2025 and said it plans to return more than £15bn to shareholders between 2026 and 2028. Profits rose 12% in the last three months of last year.
