JP Morgan settles Epstein lawsuits with US Virgin Islands and Jes Staley

JP Morgan Chase has reached settlements with the US Virgin Islands and former executive Jes Staley to resolve lawsuits over its alleged dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It will pay $75m to the territory, which alleged the bank facilitated Epstein's sex trafficking ring.

JPMorgan did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.

Lawyers for Mr Staley, a former boss at the bank, did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.

The Wall Street giant, which previously reached a $290m settlement with Epstein's victims, said it settled with Mr Staley for an undisclosed sum in a confidential agreement.

Mr Staley has denied knowing about Epstein's sex crimes.

Its $75m (£61.6m) settlement with the US Virgin Islands will include $30m to support local charities, $25m to strengthen law enforcement around human trafficking and $20m for legal fees.

It totals less than half of the $190m the territory had sought.

JP Morgan said it believed the settlement was "in the best interest of all parties".

The latest move attempts to draw a line under a legal battle that has seen the bank and the island territory's ties to the late Epstein scrutinised over the last year.

A trial in the case with the US Virgin Islands had been set to begin on 23 October.

Jeffrey Epstein was a JP Morgan client from 1998 to 2013. He owned two private islands where girls were "lured and recruited" to his Caribbean home and allegedly forced into sex, according to a previous lawsuit filed.

The bank added in its statement: "The firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes."

Public court filings in the cases accused the bank of ignoring "red flags" about Epstein, including repeated cash withdrawals.

Epstein died in prison in August 2019, where he was awaiting trial having been charged by federal prosecutors with sex trafficking of minors. New York City's medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.

His legal permanent residence was registered to the US Virgin Islands. In the days before his death, he filed an updated version of his will to the island territory.

The settlement, announced on Tuesday, "should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks' responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking", said Ariel Smith, attorney general for the US Virgin Islands.

"We are proud to have stood alongside the survivors throughout this litigation, and this settlement reflects our continued commitment to them." 

About $10m of the money received in the settlement from JP Morgan will be used to create a fund to provide mental health services for Epstein's victims, it said.

Brad Edwards, the lawyer for more than 20 alleged victims of Epstein, said that Tuesday's news "demonstrates the extraordinary strength of those individuals who survived Jeffrey Epstein's powerful international sex trafficking operation".

Legal filings also revealed exchanges between Epstein and Mr Staley, who worked for JP Morgan for more than three decades until he left in 2013.

One message shows Mr Staley, also a former Barclays boss, thanking Epstein for his "friendship".

A lawsuit filed by JP Morgan blamed him for its decision to do business with Epstein. It said that if the allegations revealed in cases brought by the US Virgin Islands and two women were true then Mr Staley - who had served as chief executive of its corporate and investment banking division - had repeatedly abandoned the bank's interests in favour of his own and he, not the bank, should be held responsible for any harm.

In his response, Mr Staley said he had no decision-making power over Epstein's accounts and the allegations extended beyond his time at the bank.

In an earlier filing, his lawyer had described allegations as "slanderous" and the potential damages "astronomical", writing that the stakes could "hardly be higher" for Mr Staley as he sought to disprove the claims.

Convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, Epstein had moved in social circles that included Prince Andrew and former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as many key figures in the world of business.