Dive Brief:

• JPMorgan Chase will pay victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein $290 million as part of a settlement to a class-action lawsuit, lawyers told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
• The deal settles a suit filed in November by an unidentified woman on behalf of victims who claim the bank had knowledge of Epstein’s illegal sex trafficking activity in the early 2000s.
• JPMorgan did not admit liability as part of the settlement, according to the WSJ. The bank said litigation is still pending with the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island, as are JPMorgan’s claims against Epstein acquaintance Jes Staley.

Dive Insight:

JPMorgan said it has “reached an agreement in principle to settle the putative class action lawsuit related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, which is subject to court approval.”

“The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse,” the bank said in a statement Monday.

The settlement comes weeks after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, in a deposition, said he wasn’t involved in the long-held accounts of the sex offender and former customer.

In the lawsuit, victims claimed the New York City-based bank ignored multiple warnings about Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes, even after learning about Epstein’s sex offender status tied to a 2008 sex crime allegedly involving an underage girl. 

Bank employees filed numerous suspicious activity reports related to Epstein’s repeated large cash withdrawals, according to court documents and deposition testimony reviewed by The New York Times.

JPMorgan, on multiple occasions, has called Epstein’s behavior “monstrous,” and said it regrets any association with him.

The suits, however, “are misdirected” as it “did not help him commit his heinous crimes,” the bank said.

JPMorgan’s litigation with the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is seeking damages over allegations the bank allowed Epstein to set up a sex trafficking operation there, is pending.

“The U.S. Virgin Islands will continue to proceed with its enforcement action to ensure full accountability for JPMorgan’s violations of law,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general told the Journal.

Staley, JPMorgan’s former private-banking chief, last month claimed the bank is trying to “deflect blame” and use him as a “public relations shield” for its own mistakes, according to the BBC.

JPMorgan sued Staley in March, alleging he concealed knowledge of Epstein’s conduct.

Meanwhile, Staley, Dimon and JPMogan’s asset- and wealth management chief, Mary Erdoes, are among 25 defendants listed in a lawsuit filed last month against the bank by an investor, Operating Engineers Construction Industry and Miscellaneous Pension Fund.

The pension fund said the bank “will continue to suffer substantial monetary and reputational harm” for its failure to report suspicious activity in the late convicted sex offender’s account.

JPMorgan is the second bank to settle with Epstein victims in the past month. Deutsche Bank, which brought Epstein on as a client following the 2013 dissolution of his relationship with JPMorgan, agreed last month to settle an Epstein victim’s class-action lawsuit for $75 million.

“We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and shortcomings,” Deutsche Bank said at the time.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019.