FirstFT: JPMorgan agrees $290mn settlement in Epstein lawsuit

Good morning. JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay up to $290mn to settle one of two lawsuits over its 15-year relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit accused the bank of profiting from human trafficking by ignoring multiple internal warnings about its former client’s sex crimes.

The agreement came just hours after a federal judge ruled that the case, originally brought by a single Epstein accuser under the pseudonym Jane Doe, would be widened to include dozens of women who claim also to have been abused by the disgraced financier.

JPMorgan has not admitted any liability. It declined to comment on the size of the payout, which was confirmed by Doe’s lawyers. The settlement has yet to be approved by a federal court in New York.

The bank is still facing similar allegations in a separate legal challenge from the US Virgin Islands. JPMorgan has also sued Jes Staley, one of its former senior executives, in an effort to make him liable for damages it may face over the Epstein claims. 

“Taken together or individually, the historic recoveries from the banks who provided financial services to Jeffrey Epstein, speak for themselves,” David Boies, a lawyer for the accusers, said in a statement. “It has taken a long time, too long, but today is a great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors.”

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

Five more top stories

1. A former executive at Samsung Electronics has been arrested and indicted in South Korea for allegedly stealing the chipmaker’s technology in order to build a copycat plant in China. The indictment of the 65-year-old Korean national comes as South Korea attempts to beef up its defences against a concerted campaign by Chinese companies to acquire cutting-edge Korean technologies.

2. The chief executives of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley said they were seeing “green shoots” in their struggling investment banking businesses, which implemented large-scale dismissals as higher interest rates damped activity. After several quarters of falling investment banking revenues, Goldman’s David Solomon and Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman said the environment was showing signs of improving.

3. Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media magnate-turned trailblazing populist, has died aged 86. Berlusconi was Italy’s longest-serving postwar prime minister whose stints in office were marked by criminal investigations into his business affairs and sex scandals. Read more on the politician who is inescapably linked to economic decline and sometimes woeful standards of public life.

4. Five of the most senior Credit Suisse executives left just hours after the UBS takeover of its Swiss rival. Among those leaving are chief financial officer Dixit Joshi and general counsel Markus Diethelm. Here are more details on the departures.

5. The Dutch government plans to vet international students after universities barred some Chinese postgraduates from top technology degrees over fears they could be a risk to national security. The move is the latest sign of a stricter stance from EU countries on perceived threats from Beijing after decades of openness.

News in-depth

Russia’s browbeaten opposition gathered in Brussels to plot a path back to democracy last week. With Vladimir Putin’s main rivals in jail or exiled, there was much squabbling about how to move forward. But the war in Ukraine has deepened existing rifts rather than uniting Russia’s liberals. Though the EU had hoped to bring them together, the splits were yet again on display in Brussels.

We’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

Chinese tech groups are suffering as foreign investors sell shares even in profitable internet giants such as Tencent and Alibaba. Overseas investors are backing off as a result of rising tensions between Beijing and Washington and China’s unsteady post-Covid economic recovery.

Take a break from the news

What’s the best way to see Venice? As captain of your own ship. To escape the crowds of tourists, FT travel editor Tom Robbins sailed a live-aboard rental boat to explore Venice and its lagoon. The voyage led to unplanned delights and moments of blessed solitude.

Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith.