US lawmakers have unveiled a new bill aimed at holding “Epstein-linked” Wall Street bosses accountable for helping to fund the late sex offender’s crimes.
The move comes as Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned British bank Barclays for “dodging responsibility” over its failure to vet former boss Jes Staley and his ties to the once-well-connected billionaire.
A bipartisan group of politicians, led by Warren and House Rep. Robert Garcia, are introducing a bill known as the Epstein Wall Street Records Act on Thursday. The bill follows a months-long investigation into the financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
If passed, the bill would require regulators, including the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission, to investigate “Epstein-connected” companies and financial executives for potential violations of banking, investment or illicit financing laws; and impose fines or even exclude criminals from the American financial sector.
The bill – which is also supported by Republican Thomas Massie – will also require regulators to publicly disclose all documents relating to Epstein and his associates; and refer any potential criminal violations to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Warren said: “Since big banks won’t hold themselves accountable – and neither will the Trump administration – Congress must act to impose real transparency and accountability on them and their executives who enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. »
News of the bill came as Warren condemned bosses at Barclays, one of the UK’s biggest banks, for their failure to adequately answer questions about its former chief executive Jes Staley and his links to Epstein.
Staley’s ties to the well-connected billionaire spelled the end of his career. The American banker resigned from Barclays in November 2021, after British regulators began investigating the true nature of his relationship with Epstein, whom he met in 2000 during his three decades at JP Morgan.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s initial investigation, triggered by a cache of more than 1,200 emails between Staley and Epstein, concluded that the two men were “indeed close” and had a relationship that “went beyond a relationship of a professional nature.”
Staley was ultimately banned from the British financial sector in 2023 for downplaying those links, and failed to overturn that decision in a court battle that revealed intimate details of the two men’s friendship last year.
This included Staley admitting to having sex with a member of Epstein’s staff in New York – an encounter he described as “consensual.” The case also revived a 2010 exchange referencing Disney princesses, in which Staley said: “That was fun. Say hello to Snow White.” Staley denied knowledge of the exchange during a British court hearing.
After losing his legal challenge against the FCA, Staley said he was disappointed by the outcome but was “never dishonest”.
In July, Warren and a team of House Democrats wrote to Barclays Chairman Nigel Higgins to ask how the bank had vetted its former CEO and whether the bank had investigated possible “deficiencies” in its executive recruiting process, given that it had “authorized the board to hire a CEO who had extensive professional and personal ties to a convicted sex offender.”
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Barclays has since responded with a letter from its head of US government relations, Lance Williams, which Warren said was insufficient.
The letter focused on the findings of the investigation by British regulators. Williams pointed out that Staley had “hid information about his actions and the nature of his relationship with Mr. Epstein” and that it was only after Staley’s resignation that “previously unknown information came to light through various public disclosures.”
“This information paints a fundamentally different portrait of Mr. Staley than the one he presented to Barclays,” Williams said, noting that Barclays relied on external executive search firms to recruit Staley in 2015, when he was “known for his accomplishments in the banking industry.”
Warren said Barclays’ lackluster response illustrated why it was time for regulators to launch formal investigations into Wall Street’s ties to Epstein: “Barclays continues to dodge accountability for its apparent failure to verify its former CEO Jes Staley’s close professional and personal ties to Epstein.” »
Barclays declined to comment. Staley’s legal representatives have been contacted for comment.
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