There is 'overwhelming' evidence that former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley had a close relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a tribunal has ruled.
Mr Staley was fined £1.8 million and banned from holding senior roles in the financial sector by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023, after it found that he misled the regulator over the nature of his relationship with the financier.
The American challenged the ban and the fine at the Upper Tribunal in London, with his lawyers saying that he 'never attempted to conceal his relationship with Mr Epstein', which the banker described as 'professionally fairly close' but not 'personally close'.
The FCA opposed the challenge, telling a hearing held in March and April that Mr Staley and Epstein had a 'friendship'.
In a unanimous decision on Thursday, Upper Tribunal judge Tim Herrington and tribunal members Martin Fraenkel and Cathy Farquharson dismissed Mr Staley's challenge, but reduced the fine to £1,107,306.92.
