Baloney From Barclays – Bank Should Take Epstein – Staley Scandal More Seriously
Matthew Steeples
Matthew Steeples suggests Barclays is not taking the Jeffrey Epstein – Jes Staley scandal seriously enough; greed and deviancy should not be protected at LSE listed companies and the firm’s latest baloney shows the firm as not fit for purpose
Today on Twitter, in the wake of a feature published by Yahoo! Finance’s Sinead Cruise at 7:05am GMT+1, I asked:
“Were the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) right to recommend Barclays investors re-elect all board members at the firm’s AGM next month in spite of the ongoing scandal of former CEO Jes Staley’s beyond weird relationship with the since croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein?”
In her article, Cruise highlighted:
“[ISS’s decision has resulted in the] sapping the momentum of protests against bosses for supporting former CEO Jes Staley who is being investigated over his links with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.”
“The influential proxy advisor said in a report published on Monday that ‘questions may be posed’ as to the board’s judgment in its decision to back Staley between 2019-2021, but it may be too soon for those questions to influence director elections.”
“Investors should instead await the outcome of various investigations into the matter, ISS said.”
“In a pre-meeting notice to investors last month, Barclays said that since Staley resigned in November 2021 it had received ‘no material new evidence’ from authorities to challenge the findings of a regulatory investigation into how Staley characterised his relationship with Epstein.”
“At the time of his resignation, Barclays said the preliminary conclusions of investigations by British financial regulators into how truthful Staley was about his ties to Epstein made ‘no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr Epstein’s alleged crimes.’”
“Staley has acknowledged having been friendly with Epstein, but expressed regret for their relationship and has denied knowing about the financier’s criminal activities.”
“The notice also said Staley’s unvested long-term bonuses remained suspended pending further developments, adding that the board would ‘consider further action as appropriate.’”
In spite of Staley having holidayed repeatedly on Epstein’s ‘Paedo Island’ and partied with him in New York and likely elsewhere, Cruise referenced that “Staley’s lawyers have dismissed allegations that he hid what he knew about the late disgraced financier as ‘slanderous’and ‘false.’”
She did not, however, reference the trail of 1,000s of emails between the Ponzi schemer Epstein and the ex-JP Morgan and Barclays CEO Staley. The weirdest and most creepy of them read:
Staley: “Maybe they’re tracking u [sic]? That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.”
Epstein: “[W]hat character would you like next?”
Staley: “Beauty and the Beast.”
Epstein: “Well, one side is available.”
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Were the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) right to recommend @Barclays investors re-elect all board members at the firm's AGM next month in spite of the ongoing scandal of former CEO Jes Staley's beyond weird relationship with the since croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein?
This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “Were the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) right to recommend Barclays investors re-elect all board members at the firm’s AGM next month in spite of the ongoing scandal of former CEO Jes Staley’s beyond weird relationship with the since croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein?” By 11:30am on Monday 17th April 2023, the majority of respondents favoured the answer: “No; cover-up.”Jes Staley, at the time a senior JP Morgan executive (left), with former treasury secretary Lawrence Summers and Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 at the latter’s Lenox Hill, New York mansion.“I was her parents’ worst nightmare” – words said by James Staley his very self – will be ringing in the ears of swivel-eyed Debbie Nitzan Staley in the wake of her husband’s former company Barclays’s decision to not (yet) payout £22 million the couple were expecting. No doubt that’ll mean one less holiday for her and her two daughters on their 90-foot long gin palace ‘Bequia’ in the coming years.
The now left-out-in-the-cold banker was listed in the infamous ‘Little Black Book’ sometimes wrongly accredited to being Jeffrey Epstein’s – but mostly that features the addresses of contacts of ‘The Bouncing Czech’s’ decidedly deviant daughter Ghislaine Maxwell – and had six contact numbers as well as an email there. He was clearly a very close associate of the dodgy duo, whatever he may continue to claim.Mr and Mrs Staley have owned two apartments at 930 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10028 (#6N and #6S) for some years now. The 22-unit building is described by StreetEasy.com as “an elegant Renaissance Revival style building comprised of Roman brick, terra cotta, limestone, and granite.” The landmarked, “intimate” pre-war cooperative building was designed by Schwartz & Gross and “offers full services amenities including a full-time doorman, canopied entrance, fitness room and storage.” Conveniently for the Snow White and Beauty & The Beast loving banker: “Pets and in-unit washer/dryers are permitted.” Acccording to Dirt.com, “the banker with nine lives” Jes Staley and his wife Debora Nitzan Staley purchased a Hamptons property for £10.7 million ($13.2 million, €12.1 million or درهم48.5 million) in October 2021 in spite of already owning a smaller 1-acre “spread” in Southampton. Of it, Dirt.com remarked: “The new place, in the snooty Murray compound in Southampton, sports the essential deeded beach access by way of a hedge-lined grass path. Also, at 2.6 acres, the property is much larger than their current one-acre spread. While the house itself is reportedly a teardown, there’s a sunken tennis court with pavilion, and a gunite pool. The building envelope for the new house is 12,400 square feet, plus a full basement. (Here in the Hamptons, we call the basement the ‘lower level.’ It usually includes a home theater, wine storage, gym, and rooms for staff.) At $1,000 a square foot for high-end building work… well, you do the math for a 12,000 square foot house. The listing says the land has potential to be an important Southampton estate.’ Guess that’s where the Staleys are going with it. Just don’t mention Epstein at the housewarming.”Allegations about Mr Staley and blackmail and corruption have been doing the rounds for some years now.Jes Staley (pictured here visiting Downing Street in London when he was the CEO of Barclay’s and still considered ‘Mr Acceptable’ in polite circles) has also been named in a separate lawsuit brought by victims of Jeffrey Epstein. In it, one victim, named only as ‘Jane Doe 1,’ has claimed Staley watched on willingly as Epstein “sexually grabbed young women in front of him” and “benefitted from their close relationship in the receipt of massages, private jet flights with victims or co-conspirators of the operation, and other things of value.” Going further, ‘Jane Doe 1’ added: “[Staley] was the key to making all of Epstein’s depraved dreams of sexual abuse and sex trafficking of countless young women possible.”
