Crispin Odey makes courtroom visit to Staley case over Epstein ties

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Financier Crispin Odey made an unexpected visit to the court where former Barclays boss Jes Staley is challenging the UK financial regulator over allegations he downplayed ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Odey, who faces his own enforcement action from the UK Financial Conduct Authority in a separate investigation, briefly entered the courtroom in London after the conclusion of proceedings on Thursday and spoke to a lawyer for Staley.

Odey, who founded the hedge fund Odey Asset Management, stands accused by women of multiple counts of sexual misconduct over decades. The financier is currently fighting a personal injury claim in a civil court filed by five of his alleged victims.

He has also issued a libel claim against the Financial Times, which reported allegations made by various women, which he has denied.

Odey’s appearance came after a four-day cross-examination of Staley in sometimes heated exchanges with the FCA counsel. The high-stakes case has included testimony from Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and Barclays chair Nigel Higgins.

Staley’s legal team was not expecting a visit from Odey at court, according to one person familiar with the situation.

Odey was warned by the FCA last year that it intended to take action against him because his conduct following allegations of sexual misconduct demonstrated a “lack of integrity”.

The FCA is not investigating the accusations of sexual misconduct against Odey. Rather, the watchdog is focusing on Odey’s response to his firm’s attempts to deal with his alleged behaviour.

Odey has the right to challenge the regulator’s decision, which is not yet final. The FCA said on Friday that it was still preparing to bring potential action against Odey.

Odey declined to comment to the FT on the reason for his visit to the courtroom in the Staley case. He did not respond to a subsequent request seeking comment on the FCA probe. A lawyer for Staley declined to comment on Odey’s appearance.

Staley, 68, is trying to overturn a ban and fine that the FCA imposed on him for allegedly allowing Barclays to mislead the regulator about his relationship with the late sex offender in a 2019 letter from the bank. The letter described the pair’s relationship as not close.

Epstein died in a prison cell earlier that year, awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. He previously pleaded guilty in Florida to charges including soliciting a minor.

Staley told the court during his fifth and final day of testimony on Friday that his career had been “ended” by the letter, which the FCA said he had approved.

“I haven’t been able to work since,” he said.

Questioned by his barrister, Staley said he had to deal with the Epstein “issue” while at the helm of one of the UK’s largest financial institutions.

He described Barclays as being in a “bad place” before his appointment as chief executive in 2015.

“It was failing in meeting the requirements of the regulators,” Staley said. “It was obviously failing to meet the expectation of shareholders. It had legal issues, it had structural issues, it had morale issues.”

Turning the bank around had taken an “extraordinary amount of time and effort and passion”, he said.

“Whilst we had this issue . . . no one should miss for a second that I was doing all this whilst I was running and trying to fix a major British institution.”