Barclays is being sued by investors in a Los Angeles federal court over former chief executive Jes Staley’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The lawsuit, which is representing investors in the bank’s US-listed securities, alleges that Staley misled them over his relationship with Epstein. It argues that Barclays knew or should have known that Staley had a closer relationship with Epstein than thought, and that the bank was possibly aware of Epstein’s sex crimes.

Specifically, the suit claims that Barclays concealed or made misleading statements about the pair’s relationship in public statements, regulatory disclosures about risks it faced, and in communications with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Staley served as the boss of Barclays from 2015 to 2021. Epstein, who faced a litany of police investigations and was first convicted in 2008, was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died in his jail cell a month later while awaiting trial.

The Barclays investors said that the price of their American Depositary Receipts fell four times as a direct result of the relationship’s exposure in the public eye, including on 12 October 2021 when Staley was banned from senior banking roles by the FCA and fined £1.8 million.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for the period of 22 July 2019 – when a New York Times article exposed Epstein’s relationship with Staley – through to 12 October 2023.

Staley himself is named as one of the defendants, along with current Barclays chief exec C.S. Venkatakrishnan.

In June, JPMorgan, where Staley also worked, agreed to pay $290 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit with Epstein’s abuse victims. In September, it agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the US Virgin Islands, which accused the bank of aiding Epstein’s criminal activity by providing him with financing while he had a home in the country. The bank subsequently reached a confidential settlement with Staley after suing him to cover losses in both lawsuits.

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