Ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley to be interviewed by House panel on Epstein ties

Jes Staley, the former JPMorgan Chase executive and ex-Barclays CEO, has agreed to be interviewed on about his relationship with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on July 23 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a spokesman for the panel confirmed Sunday.

The Financial Times first reported that Staley accepted the invitation for a voluntary transcribed interview extended to him three weeks ago by Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.

The Oversight panel has been conducting a series of interviews with high-profile people about Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi was interviewed by the committee on Friday about the Department of Justice's handling of the release of its files about Epstein.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is scheduled to be interviewed by the Oversight committee on June 10 about his dealings with Epstein.

Billionaire Leon Black is reportedly scheduled to be interviewed by the panel on June 26, and Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler is reportedly scheduled to be interviewed on July 15.

Staley was a friend of Epstein, who had been a major client of JPMorgan's private wealth and asset management divisions when Staley ran them.

Epstein, a former friend of President Donald Trump, died from a jailhouse suicide in New York in August 2019, weeks after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.

JPMorgan in 2023 agreed to pay victims of Epstein $290 million to settle a lawsuit that the bank had facilitated sex trafficking by Epstein, who was a client of JPMorgan.

That same year, the bank agreed to pay $75 million to settle a similar lawsuit by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and separately agreed to a confidential settlement with Staley to resolve the bank's claims that he was responsible for any civil damages and costs associated with Epstein-related litigation.

In both public settlements, JPMorgan did not admit wrongdoing in its dealings with Epstein.

Staley served as CEO of Barclays from October 2015 until his resignation in late 2021.

His departure came after a probe by the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority into how he had characterized his relationship with Epstein to Barclays and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclays' response to the FCA.

That regulator fined Staley more than $2 million and permanently banned him from holding a management role in the sector in 2023.

Barclays noted at the time that the investigation "makes no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr Epstein's alleged crimes, which was the central question underpinning Barclays' support for Mr Staley following the arrest of Mr Epstein in the summer of 2019."

Staley, in 2020, said, "Obviously, I thought I knew him well, and I didn't. For sure, with hindsight, with what we know now, I deeply regret having any relationship with Jeffrey."

— CNBC's Garrett Downs contributed to this article.