BRUNSWICK — A Bowdoin College trustee is being investigated for his relationship with sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in his cell in August while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
Jeffrey Epstein in 2017 New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, file
The Financial Conduct Agency, a regulatory agency based in the United Kingdom, will investigate James “Jes” Staley, a Bowdoin graduate, board of trustees member and the CEO of the British bank Barclays and his relationship with Epstein. According to CNN, the focus of the investigation is whether the relationship was properly disclosed to British regulators after his appointment as CEO in 2015.
According to a statement from Bowdoin College, the school is aware of Staley’s connection to Epstein and, after a review conducted last fall, “the board agreed with the Governance Committee’s unanimous recommendation that there was nothing in Jes Staley’s actions or behavior that warranted the board taking any action.”
“Bowdoin’s Board of Trustees takes seriously any questions about the character and judgment of its members,” the statement read. “If any new information comes to light as a result of the Financial Conduct Authority investigation, the board will consider it at that time.”
The Bowdoin Orient reported Thursday that Staley, then working at JP Morgan, managed Epstein’s finances between 2000 and 2013, even after an internal investigation recommended that the bank drop Epstein as a client. Staley’s name then appeared in Epstein’s “black book” of personal and professional contacts.
Last month, the Orient wrote that Bowdoin College President Clayton Rose told students that Staley remains a trustee. He declined to state his personal opinions on the situation, though he reportedly said in June 2019 that Staley represents “all that is great about Bowdoin and the culture and the values here.”
According to other media outlets, Staley acknowledged in a call with reporters Thursday that he had a “professional relationship” with Epstein but that the relationship “tapered off quite significantly” when Staley left JP Morgan, according to CNN.
“Obviously I thought I knew him well and I didn’t. And for sure with hindsight of what we all know now I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he told reporters.
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