Move comes as Senator Elizabeth Warren condemns Barclays response to questions over ex-boss’s ties to sex offender
US lawmakers have unveiled a new bill to hold Wall Street’s “Epstein-connected” bosses to account for helping finance the late sex offender’s crimes.
It came as top Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the UK bank Barclays for “dodging responsibility” over its failure to vet former boss Jes Staley and histies tothe once well-connected billionaire.
A bipartisan group of politicians, led by Warren and House representative Robert Garcia, are introducing a bill on Thursday known as the Epstein Wall Street Records Act. The bill follows a months-long investigation into the financier, whodied in prisonin 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges.
If passed, the bill would force regulators including the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate “Epstein connected” financial firms and executives for potential breaches of banking, investment or illicit funding laws; and fine or even ban wrongdoers from the US financial sector.
The bill – which is also being backed by House Republican Thomas Massie – will also force regulators to publicly disclose any records relating to Epstein and his associates; and refer any potential criminal violations to the US justice department.
Warren said: “Since the big banks won’t hold themselves accountable – and the Trump administration won’t either – Congress must act to force real transparency and accountability for them and their executives who enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.”
News of the bill came as Warren condemned the bosses at Barclays, one of the UK’s biggest banks, over their failure to adequately answer questions about its former chief executivesJes Staleyand his links to Epstein.
Staley’s ties with the well-connected billionaire spelled the end of his career. The American bankerresigned from Barclays in November 2021, after UK regulators started investigating the true nature of his relationship with Epstein, whom he met in 2000 during his three-decade stint at JP Morgan.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s original investigation, triggered by a cache of more than 1,200 emails between Staley and Epstein, concluded that the pair were“indeed close”and had a relationship that “went beyond one that was professional in nature”.
Staley was eventuallybanned from the UK’s financial sectorin 2023 for playing down those ties, andfailed to overturnthat decision in a court battle that revealed intimate details of the pair’s friendship last year.
That included Staleyadmitting to having sex with a member of Epstein’s staffin New York – an encounter he said was “consensual”. The case also revived a 2010 exchangereferring to Disney princesses,in which Staley said: “That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.” Staley denied knowledge of the exchange during a UK court hearing.
After the loss of 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 theBarclayschair, Nigel Higgins, asking how it had vetted its former chief executive, and whether the bank had investigated potential “deficiencies” in its executive hiring process, given it had “allowed the board to hire a CEO who held extensive professional and personal ties to a convicted sex offender”.
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