June 27, 2025
The Upper Tribunal has dismissed a reference by Barclays’ former CEO, Jes Staley, appealing against the decision of the Financial Conduct Authority to ban him from holding future senior management roles in financial services.
Mr Staley approved a letter sent to the FCA which contained misleading statements about the nature of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and their last point of contact, in particular claiming that he did not have a close relationship with Mr Epstein and their last contact had been “well before” Mr Staley joined Barclays. The Upper Tribunal found that both of these were inaccurate statements, that Mr Staley knew that to be the case, and that he acted recklessly in approving the letter.
The Upper Tribunal agreed with the FCA that this amounted to a breach of ICR 1 (the requirement to act with integrity), ICR 3 (the requirement to be open and cooperative with the FCA, PRA and other regulators) and SMCR 4 (the requirement to disclose appropriately any information of which the FCA would reasonably expect notice). It noted that integrity, being open and cooperative with the FCA at all times, and demonstrating good judgement are “fundamental requirements of senior managers”, and went on to say:
“We agree with the Authority that Mr Staley’s breaches of the Authority’s rules represented a serious failure of judgement by Mr Staley. Bearing in mind of Barclays as a financial institution, this was conduct that could have resulted in confidence in the financial system being adversely affected. The conduct clearly engages the Authority’s objective of enhancing and protecting the integrity of the UK financial system in section 1D FSMA and the imposition of a prohibition order against Mr Staley in the form sought by the Authority will further that objective.”
This is a landmark decision, being the first time that the FCA has sought to prohibit a current or previous chief executive of one of the “Big Four” banks in the UK.
The Tribunal fined Mr Staley £1.1m, reducing the original penalty to account for the value of deferred shares that will now not vest in Mr Staley.
Lara Hassell-Hart acted for the Financial Conduct Authority, led by Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC and Eleanor Davison of Fountain Court Chambers (with Henry Reid of Outer Temple Chambers acting as junior counsel).
The full judgment is available here.
The FCA’s press release is here.
