Exclusive: It follows calls from US senator Elizabeth Warren to investigate bank executives including ex-Barclays boss Jes Staley
US regulators say they are taking allegations that top banks may have facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activity “very seriously”, as they faced calls to investigate executives including the former Barclays boss Jes Staley.
In correspondence seen by the Guardian, bosses from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said they had reviewed a letter from the Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, which raised concerns over bankers’ alleged support for the convicted child sex offender Epstein.
That includes Staley, who Warren said had allegedly protected Epstein’s access to the banking system while working at JP Morgan in the early 2000s. Staley has already been banned from the UK banking sector for playing down his relationship with Epstein.
While the regulators would not publicly confirm whether they were opening formal inquiries, their directors assured Warren they would take action over any potential misconduct.
