(Bloomberg) -- Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Barclays Plc Chairman Nigel Higgins are set to give evidence as part of a legal challenge brought by Jes Staley, the British lender’s former chief executive who left over his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Staley is disputing a decision last year to ban him from the UK finance industry for having “recklessly misled” the Financial Conduct Authority by allowing the bank’s board to downplay his interactions with Epstein. A trial is due to take place in London next March, court documents show.
Bailey and Higgins will be giving evidence about meetings they attended regarding the probe into Staley in December 2019, shortly after the FCA started investigating the executive, according to the documents.
Staley, 67, has long maintained that he cut off his friendship with Epstein — one of his clients at JPMorgan Chase & Co. — once he became boss of Barclays. Bloomberg News has reported, citing legal documents, that he had contact with Epstein through an intermediary.
Epstein, the pedophile financier who died by suicide a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges in 2019, remains at the center of multiple legal matters over his crimes and wider ties to business and political elites.
Spokespeople for the BOE and Barclays did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
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