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The Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren is calling for an investigation into bankers including Jes Staley over their alleged support for the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a move that could leave the former Barclays boss banned from working in the US financial sector.

In a letter privately filed with regulators, and seen by the Guardian, Warren called for investigations into “all current and former US banking executives who may have facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s illicit conduct”.

That includes Staley, who Warren said is alleged to have helped protect the late financier’s access to the banking system during his stint working at JP Morgan in the early 2000s. Warren noted that Staley – who is already banned from the UK banking sector – had been described in media reports as Epstein’s “chief defender”.

Warren, the lead Democrat on the US Senate committee on banking, housing and urban affairs, said she was concerned to hear that Staley pushed back when colleagues flagged Epstein’s suspicious transactions, referring to a matter that was put to him in court proceedings earlier this year. Staley denied the allegations at the time, saying “I don’t think that’s fair” and that the decision to exit a client such as Epstein was not his to make.

Warren also referred to court evidence suggesting Staley tipped Epstein off about JP Morgan’s worries in a way that allowed the sex trafficker to alter his behaviour and avoid scrutiny. Staley told the court that he “was not part of managing the account” but did not deny that he told Epstein there were concerns about cash withdrawals.

During his 15-year relationship with JP Morgan, Epstein opened at least 134 accounts, processed over $1bn in transactions, and brought in several lucrative clients, Warren’s letter said.

And while JP Morgan had so far paid $290m (£217m) in settlements to Epstein’s victims, “Staley has so far avoided accountability in the United States,” the senator said.

Warren has now called on the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to publicly announce the launch of an investigation into former and current banking executives who may have aided Epstein, by 7 November.

She also asked for private confirmation that an investigation had been opened specifically into Staley’s conduct by 14 November. Wrongdoing could ultimately result in a fine and a potential ban from working in the US banking sector.

“It is critical to send a message to the public and current bank employees that this type of egregious misconduct has no place in the American banking system,” Warren’s letter said.

It would be another bruising development for Staley, who in June lost a legal attempt to overturn his lifetime ban from the UK financial sector imposed by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023, after he was found to have misled the watchdog over his relationship with the sex offender.

The FCA’s original investigation, triggered by a cache of more than 1,200 emails between Staley and Epstein, concluded that the pair were “indeed close” and had a relationship that “went beyond one that was professional in nature”.

Warren also called for investigations into other top executives that may have supported the late financier’s crimes. “Staley is not the only bank executive with concerning ties to Epstein. For example, according to Staley’s sworn deposition, he discussed Epstein with CEO Jamie Dimon on at least two occasions,” the letter stated.

Dimon has previously denied Staley’s claim and stated that he does not recall knowing anything about Epstein until years after the firm effectively severed ties with the sex offender. JP Morgan declined to comment.

“The Fed, OCC and FDIC should investigate any other current or former banking executives who engaged in similar conduct to determine whether their conduct satisfies the legal standards for a ban on working in the banking industry and civil monetary penalties,” Warren said.

“Any banking executives who facilitated the crimes of one of the world’s most notorious sex criminals should be held to account,” Warren’s letter added.

Donald Trump has come under fire for his own social ties to the sex offender, who was a longtime friend until they fell out in 2004. The president made releasing the Epstein investigative files part of his campaign platform, but has failed to do so. He has referred to the furore over the files as a Democratic “hoax”.

The news of Warren’s letter came as two new lawsuits were filed by an anonymous plaintiff against Bank of America and the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), alleging that banks illicitly enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking. BNY has said the claims “are meritless and we will vigorously defend against it”. Bank of America echoed those comments, saying: “We will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter.”

The Guardian contacted Staley’s legal representative for comment.

In June, after the loss of his legal challenge against the FCA, Staley said he was “disappointed” by the outcome but was “never dishonest”.

A charity that helps families struggling with the cost of school clothing has described a donation of uniforms from an airline as “crucial”.

Luton-based EasyJet has partnered with local charity Level Trust (LT), which provides uniforms for 75 schools across the town.

LT’s uniform exchange programme will upcyle used EasyJet uniforms into thousands of new shirts, skirts, blazers and trousers for older students.

A survey of 2,000 parents, commissioned by EasyJet, found 58% of British households are feeling the financial strain of buying school uniforms.

It also found how, on average, they are spending £255 per child on school uniform.

Michael Brown, director of cabin services for EasyJet, said: “Our aim for this first phase is both to support parents who are facing financial hardships as well as reduce our textile waste.”

Jennie White, chief executive officer of LT, added: “We have seen a significant rise in requests for school uniforms, highlighting the challenges many families are facing.

“EasyJet’s donation of surplus uniforms is a crucial step in addressing these needs as this initiative not only helps alleviate the financial strain on parents, but also ensures that children have the necessary attire to feel confident and focused at school.”

Basel, October 28 2025 – Novartis today announced that its previously announced tender offer (the “offer”) by Torino Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis (“Purchaser”), to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Shares”), of Tourmaline Bio, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Tourmaline”), at a price of $48.00 per Share, in cash, without interest and subject to any applicable withholding, expired at one minute following 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on October 27, 2025 (the “Expiration Date”).  

Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the depositary for the offer, has advised that, as of the Expiration Date, approximately 24,030,382 Shares were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the offer, representing approximately 92.94% of the issued and outstanding Shares immediately prior to the Expiration Date. 
  
The parties expect the transaction to close on October 28, 2025, promptly following the acceptance of all Shares validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the offer. 

Disclaimer 
This press release contains statements that are not statements of historical fact, or “forward-looking statements,” including with respect to Novartis’s proposed acquisition of Tourmaline. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as “potential,” “can,” “will,” “plan,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “look forward,” “believe,” “committed,” “investigational,” “pipeline,” “launch,” or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for Tourmaline’s product candidates, Tourmaline’s platform, the proposed acquisition of Tourmaline and the expected timetable for completing the proposed acquisition, the benefits sought to be achieved in the proposed acquisition, or potential future revenues from Tourmaline’s product candidates. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on Novartis’s current beliefs and expectations regarding future events and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that clinical trials for any of Tourmaline’s product candidates will be successful, that Tourmaline’s approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on its AOC™ platform will produce any products of commercial value, that any of Tourmaline’s product candidates will be submitted for marketing approval or approved for sale or, if approved, receive approval for any additional indications or labeling, in any market, or at any particular time, nor can there be any guarantee that, if approved, any of Tourmaline’s product candidates will be commercially successful in the future. Neither can there be any guarantee that the conditions to the closing of the proposed acquisition will be satisfied on the expected timetable or at all or that the expected benefits or synergies from this transaction will be achieved in the expected timeframe, or at all. In particular, expectations regarding Tourmaline or the transaction described in this press release could be affected by, among other things, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions; the risk that competing offers or acquisition proposals will be made; the effects of disruption from the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and the impact of the announcement and pendency of the transactions on Novartis and/or Tourmaline’s businesses, including their relationships with employees, business partners or governmental entities; the risk that the offer or the merger may be more expensive to complete than anticipated; the risk that stockholder litigation in connection with the offer or the merger may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; a diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities as a result of the offer, the merger or otherwise; general industry conditions and competition; general political, economic and business conditions, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG’s and Tourmaline’s filings and reports with the SEC, including Novartis AG’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, Tourmaline’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2025 and June 30, 2025, and any subsequent filings made by either party with the SEC, available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date, and Novartis does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. 

About Novartis  
Novartis is an innovative medicines company. Every day, we work to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives so that patients, healthcare professionals and societies are empowered in the face of serious disease. Our medicines reach more than 300 million people worldwide. 

Reimagine medicine with us: Visit us at https://www.novartis.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram. 

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