美国立法者推出了一项新法案，旨在追究华尔街“与爱泼斯坦有关联”的高管对协助资助已故性犯罪者罪行的责任。
US lawmakers have unveiled a new bill to hold Wall Street’s “Epstein-connected” bosses to account for helping finance the late sex offender’s crimes.
此举正值民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦谴责英国银行巴克莱因未能审查前首席执行官杰斯·斯蒂利及其与曾经关系广泛的亿万富翁的联系而“逃避责任”。
It came as top Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the UK bank Barclays for “dodging responsibility” over its failure to vet former boss Jes Staley and his ties to the once well-connected billionaire.
由沃伦和众议员罗伯特·加西亚领导的跨党派政客团队将于周四推出一项名为《爱泼斯坦华尔街记录法案》的法案。该法案是在对该金融家进行数月调查之后提出的，他在2019年死于狱中，当时正等待审判，罪名是儿童性贩卖。
A bipartisan group of politicians, led by Warren and House representative Robert Garcia, are introducing a bill on Thursday known as the Epstein Wall Street Records Act. The bill follows a months-long investigation into the financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges.
如果该法案通过，将迫使包括美联储和证券交易委员会在内的监管机构调查“与爱泼斯坦有关联”的金融公司及其高管，以查看是否违反了银行、投资或非法资金法律；并对违规者处以罚款，甚至禁止其进入美国金融部门。
If passed, the bill would force regulators including the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate “Epstein connected” financial firms and executives for potential breaches of banking, investment or illicit funding laws; and fine or even ban wrongdoers from the US financial sector.
该法案——也得到众议员托马斯·马西（共和党）的支持——还将迫使监管机构公开披露任何与爱泼斯坦及其关联人士相关的记录；并将任何潜在的刑事违规行为移交美国司法部。
The bill – which is also being backed by House Republican Thomas Massie – will also force regulators to publicly disclose any records relating to Epstein and his associates; and refer any potential criminal violations to the US justice department.
沃伦表示：“由于大银行不会自行承担责任——特朗普政府也不会——国会必须采取行动，迫使他们及其为杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的罪行提供便利的高管实现真正的透明度和问责制。”沃伦在谴责巴克莱银行高管时透露了该法案的消息，巴克莱银行是英国最大的银行之一，因未能充分回答有关其前首席执行官杰斯·斯蒂利及其与爱泼斯坦关系的问题而受到指责。
Warren said: “Since the big banks won’t hold themselves accountable – and the Trump administration won’t either – Congress must act to force real transparency and accountability for them and their executives who enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.”News of the bill came as Warren condemned the bosses at Barclays, one of the UK’s biggest banks, over their failure to adequately answer questions about its former chief executives Jes Staley and his links to Epstein.
斯塔利与这位人脉广泛的亿万富翁之间的关联最终断送了他的职业生涯。2021年11月，这位美国银行家从巴克莱银行辞职。此前，英国监管机构开始调查他与爱泼斯坦之间的真实关系——两人于2000年在斯塔利任职于摩根大通的30年期间相识。
Staley’s ties with the well-connected billionaire spelled the end of his career. The American banker resigned from Barclays in November 2021, after UK regulators started investigating the true nature of his relationship with Epstein, whom he met in 2000 during his three-decade stint at JP Morgan.
英国金融行为监管局最初的调查源于斯塔利与爱泼斯坦之间1200多封电子邮件。调查结果显示，两人“关系确实亲密”，其交往程度“已超出普通职业关系范畴”。
The Financial Conduct Authority’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”.
2023年，斯塔利因刻意淡化与爱泼斯坦的关系而被禁止在英国金融行业从业。去年，他在法庭上试图推翻这一决定，但未能成功；庭审过程还披露了两人友谊的诸多细节。
Staley was eventually banned from the UK’s financial sector in 2023 for playing down those ties, and failed to overturn that decision in a court battle that revealed intimate details of the pair’s friendship last year.
据斯塔利承认，他曾在纽约与爱泼斯坦的一名工作人员发生性关系，并称该行为“出于双方自愿”。此案还牵出了2010年的一段对话：斯塔利曾提及迪士尼公主，说道：“那真有趣，替我向白雪公主问好。”不过在英国法庭听证会上，斯塔利否认自己知晓这段对话。
That included Staley admitting to having sex with a member of Epstein’s staff in New York – an encounter he said was “consensual”. The case also revived a 2010 exchange referring to Disney princesses, in which Staley said: “That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.”Staley denied knowledge of the exchange during a UK court hearing.
在败诉后，斯塔利表示对结果感到失望，但坚称自己“从未不诚实”。
After the loss of his legal challenge against the FCA, Staley said he was disappointed by the outcome but was “never dishonest”.
7月，沃伦与一群众议院民主党议员联名致信巴克莱银行董事长奈杰尔·希金斯，询问该行是如何对前首席执行官进行背景审查的，以及鉴于该行“允许董事会聘用一位与性犯罪定罪者存在广泛职业及私人联系的人担任CEO”，是否曾调查过自身高管招聘流程中存在的潜在“漏洞”。
In July, Warren and a team of House Democrats wrote to the Barclays chair, Nigel Higgins, asking how it had vetted its former chief executive, and whether the bank had investigated potential “deficiencies” in its executive hiring process, given it had “allowed the board to hire a CEO who held extensive professional and personal ties to a convicted sex offender”.
巴克莱随后由美国政府关系主管兰斯·威廉姆斯回信，但沃伦认为该回复并不令人满意。
Barclays has since responded with a letter from its head of US government relations, Lance Williams, that Warren said was not sufficient.
这封信聚焦于英国监管机构调查的发现。威廉姆斯强调，斯坦利“隐瞒了他行为的信息以及他与爱泼斯坦先生关系的性质”，并且只有在斯坦利辞职之后，“此前未知的信息才通过各种公开披露浮出水面”。
The letter focused on the findings of the UK regulators’ investigation. Williams stressed that Staley had “concealed information about his actions and the nature of his relationship with Mr Epstein” and only after Staley’s resignation had “previously unknown information come to light through various public disclosures”.
“这些信息描绘了斯坦利先生与他向巴克莱展示的形象截然不同的画面，”威廉姆斯说，并指出巴克莱在2015年聘请斯坦利时曾依赖外部高管猎头公司，当时他“因在银行业的成就而闻名”。
“This information paints a fundamentally different picture of Mr Staley than what he presented to Barclays,” Williams said, noting that Barclays had relied on external executive search firms to recruit Staley in 2015, when he was “known for his accomplishments in the banking industry”.
沃伦表示，巴克莱的敷衍回应凸显了监管机构启动对华尔街与爱泼斯坦关系的正式调查的必要性：“巴克莱继续回避其显然未能审查前首席执行官杰斯·斯坦利与爱泼斯坦的密切专业和个人关系的责任。”巴克莱拒绝置评。斯坦利的法律代表已被联系以求置评。
Warren said Barclays’ lacklustre response illustrated why it was time for regulators to launch formal investigations into Wall Street’s ties to Epstein: “Barclays continues to dodge responsibility over its apparent failure to vet its former CEO Jes Staley’s close professional and personal ties to Epstein.”Barclays declined to comment. Staley’s legal representatives were contacted for comment.