US regulators say they are taking allegations that top banks may have facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activity “very seriously”, as they face calls to investigate executives including former Barclays boss Jess Staley.
In correspondence seen by the Guardian, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the bosses of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said they had reviewed a letter from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren raising concerns over bankers’ alleged support for convicted child sex offender Epstein.
This includes Staley, whom Warren said allegedly protected Epstein’s access to the banking system while working at JPMorgan in the early 2000s. Staley has already been barred from the UK banking sector for downplaying her ties to Epstein.
Although the regulators would not publicly confirm whether they were launching a formal investigation, their directors assured Warren that they would act on any potential misconduct.
“While it would be inappropriate to comment on any specific supervisory matter that is ongoing, I take very seriously any allegations of wrongdoing or abuse by banks and bank officials,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said in a letter to Warren, the Democrat who heads the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
“We appreciate the seriousness of this matter and will continue to investigate the banks, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., within our jurisdiction, including ensuring that the banks address safety and soundness concerns and violations of law under our jurisdiction,” Gold said.
Warren’s original letter raised questions about JPMorgan’s extensive banking ties to the sex offender, saying Epstein was one of the bank’s most profitable clients before being ousted in 2013, five years after he was sent to prison for soliciting prostitution of a minor. The well-connected financier died in prison while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges in July 2019.
FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill said the regulator took “Unlawful activity related to the banking sector, including possible insider involvement in illegal activity, very seriously”
Their letter, dated November 17, said that “if this type of activity is identified” the watchdog would follow standard protocol: collect and review potential evidence, before taking the case to the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General, which has law enforcement powers.
Wrongdoing can result in fines and restrictions from working in the US banking sector.
The FDIC and OCC declined to comment. The Guardian contacted Staley’s legal representative for comment.
Warren said in a statement: “Regulators need to investigate and hold Epstein’s supporters accountable – and I’ll believe they are taking action when I see it. Americans deserve to know that their banking system is not facilitating the disturbing crimes of the rich and powerful.”
A JPMorgan spokesperson did not comment directly on Warren’s correspondence with regulators, but said in relation to Epstein: “We regret any association we had with the man, but we did not help him in his heinous acts. We ended our relationship with him six years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges. The federal government had damaging information about his crimes that they failed to share with us or other banks.”
Last week, Warren appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to urge JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon to testify before the US Senate Banking Committee.
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“He opened about 134 different accounts for Jeffrey Epstein over the years. He made over a billion dollars of transactions for Jeffrey Epstein… He could literally walk into a bank and get $50 million from JPMorgan Chase.
“So, what I want to do in the Banking Committee is I want Mr. Dimon and some of those other bankers to come and testify under oath about what exactly is the financial path that kept Jeffrey Epstein safe for so long.”
JPMorgan said in a statement: “Jamie never met Epstein, did not speak to him, did not email him, and was not involved in any decisions regarding his account, which he testified about under oath. There are over a million pages of emails and other documents produced in this case, and no one is even close to suggesting otherwise.”
A spokesperson for the bank said: “We will comply with the law, including responding to the subpoena. Our involvement with Epstein is largely a matter of public record, with millions of pages of discovery from the litigation already publicly available.”
The correspondence between Warren and US financial regulators comes days after she pressured Donald Trump to sign a bill that would require the US Justice Department to release all of its declassified records, documents and communications related to Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
This is the result of an initial backlash by the US President, who has come under fire over his ties to the sex offender, who was friends with Epstein before the two fell out in 2004 before his sentencing. The documents are expected to be released within 30 days, on or around December 19.
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