Jes Staley must face trial alongside his former employer JPMorgan Chase in October, a New York judge has ruled.
JPMorgan is suing Staley for allegedly failing to disclose his participation in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes. Lawyers for JPMorgan last month said new details about the relationship between Staley and the late paedophile had emerged during an interview with an alleged victim.
Staley had sought to have the claims separated from two lawsuits brought against the Wall Street lender by an alleged Epstein victim and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home.
But Judge Jed Rakoff ruled JPMorgan’s claims against Staley were “closely related” to those made in the other civil lawsuits and that the three complaints would be heard together in October as planned.
Rakoff did agree to extend a pre-trial procedural deadline by seven weeks after Staley’s lawyer had argued that his client would need more time to review tens of thousands of documents related to the case.
Separately on Monday, in a response to the complaint against the bank by the alleged Epstein victim, JPMorgan denied that longstanding chief executive Jamie Dimon knew of Staley’s “personal involvement” with Epstein.
In the new filing, the bank also denied that Dimon knew Epstein had been arrested for solicitation in Florida in 2006 or subsequently registered as a sex offender in the state. Dimon is set to make a deposition in May.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
IMF: The fund releases its global financial stability report as part of its annual spring meetings with the World Bank in Washington.
Monetary policy: Chicago Federal Reserve president Austan Goolsbee, Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker and Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari are all due to speak at public events.
Biden in Belfast: The US president is set to arrive in Northern Ireland tonight to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
PS: We’re launching a new newsletter on April 17: One Must-Read. The newsletter will bring readers the most exceptional story from the FT each weekday. Sign up by clicking here
Five more top stories
1. The Pentagon said it was “working around the clock” to find out the source and scale of a leak of highly classified intelligence documents that appeared to contain operational data on the war in Ukraine as well as information from countries in Asia and the Middle East. Read the full story on the breach.
2. Chinese tech giant Alibaba pledged to introduce artificial intelligence across all its business lines as it launched its ChatGPT-like generative artificial intelligence model in Beijing. Read more on the service, which is called Tongyi Qianwen or “truth from a thousand questions”.
3. The world’s largest gold miner Newmont this morning raised its all-share offer for Australian rival Newcrest to $19.5bn. If agreed, the deal will create a global powerhouse in the precious metal sector.
4. US pharmaceutical industry executives have called for the reversal of last week’s judicial ruling that could withdraw regulatory approval for the common abortion drug mifepristone. Read more on the open letter.
5. The US and the Philippines have kicked off their largest joint military exercise in 31 years, a day after China wrapped up three days of manoeuvres around Taiwan. The annual flagship drill, called Balikatan, involves 12,000 US forces, 5,400 Philippine military personnel and more than 100 Australian forces.
News in-depth
Russia’s recent arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has drawn comparisons with the country’s detention of Brittney Griner in February 2022. But while the US basketball star was released in a prisoner swap after 10 months, former and current US officials warn that Gershkovich’s path to freedom may be tougher and longer.
We’re also reading . . .
Taiwan tensions: A dangerous rise in Chinese military exercises is a price worth paying to protect a flourishing Asian democracy, argues Gideon Rachman.
Markets Insight: Last month’s turmoil in the banking sector seems to indicate the great speculative era has ended, and a new phase, the great unwinding, has begun, says Philip Coggan.
US politics: Waning support in Ohio for the Ukraine war in Ohio points to a flashpoint in next year’s US presidential election.
Chart of the day
US companies are facing their sharpest drop in profits since the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Wall Street forecasts, as high inflation squeezes margins and fears of an impending recession hold back demand.
Take a break from the news
We are seeing a gradual reimagining of where, when and how we work. Grace Lordan, an associate professor at the London School of Economics, says her work has found that much of this shift is coming from employees.
Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Vita Dadoo Lomeli
Source: Economy - ft.com
