When regulators finally banned Ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley from senior management in June 2025, it was presented as proof that integrity matters at the top of financial services. The FCA found that Staley misled them over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, approving letters that downplayed their closeness and contact timeline. The Upper Tribunal agreed he acted recklessly, showed no remorse, and failed to uphold the standards of honesty and openness required of leaders.
But for customers on the ground, the truth is this: that same culture of dishonesty and evasion trickled down through the entire institution. And ordinary people paid the price.
📩 A Case in Point: John G’s Mortgage Battle
In June 2021, a 40-year Barclays customer wrote directly to Jes Staley and copied Mark Steward, then head of enforcement at the FCA. His complaint was simple but urgent:
- He had never missed a mortgage payment prior to COVID.
- After reaching out for support, he endured 15 months of being fobbed off and sent from pillar to post.
- Barclays’ idea of help was to issue computer-generated, unsigned, threatening letters, funnelling him into call centres abroad.
- Despite repeated promises, no senior executive ever called him back.
Barclays’ internal response to his escalation was telling:
“What happens now he’s copied in Jes, do we need to adopt this?”
In other words: not how do we help this loyal customer? but how do we handle this now the CEO is visible?
This isn’t just poor service. It is evidence of a systemic culture of avoidance — one that placed reputation management above fair treatment.
🚨 A Pattern of Integrity Failures
Staley’s track record shows this wasn’t an isolated failing:
- 2018: Fined over £1.1m for attempting to unmask a whistleblower, undermining Barclays’ whistleblowing framework.
- 2025: Banned for misleading regulators over his Epstein relationship, after the FCA and Tribunal found him reckless and lacking credibility.
In both cases, regulators emphasised lack of integrity at the very top. The same culture that misled watchdogs also left vulnerable customers abandoned and mistreated.
⚖️ A Broken Justice System
As John G put it in his message to us:
“Staley’s scandals after appalling scandal, and the list of fines, are loose change to him on an £18m salary. Instead of jailing him like Paul Flowers, the Tribunal gave him a discount. Our justice system is well and truly broken.”
The tragedy is that behind each fine, each tribunal, there are thousands of human stories — of families threatened with repossession, of whistleblowers silenced, of trust betrayed. These stories rarely make the headlines.
🌍 Why Empowerment Matters
At the Academy of Life Planning and Get SAFE, we believe this is why structural change is needed.
- Transparency: Ordinary people must have the tools to expose the truth — just as John G did through his DSAR, uncovering Barclays’ internal correspondence.
- Accountability: Regulators must act for consumers, not protect reputations.
- Empowerment: Citizens need models of financial planning that are non-extractive, transparent, and rooted in integrity.
That is what we are building — a movement of holistic wealth planners, citizen investigators, and empowered communities who will not be left to the mercy of broken systems.
✅ The Call to Action
If you are tired of a financial system where fines are loose change to the powerful and justice comes too late for victims, join us.
- Learn how the GAME Plan™ restores autonomy and puts integrity back at the centre of planning.
- Support Get SAFE, where citizens gain the tools to investigate wrongdoing and demand redress.
- Stand with us as we replace extraction with empowerment.
Because from the top down, the system has failed. Now it’s time to rebuild from the ground up.
👉 Join the Academy of Life Planning today.
About Get SAFE
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) was born from a simple truth: too many victims of financial abuse are left to suffer in silence.
We exist in memory of Ian Davis—for the ones who did everything right, only to be failed by the systems they trusted. We know that behind every vanished pension, every ignored complaint, and every stonewalled letter is a person—frightened, exhausted, and too often alone.
Get SAFE offers more than sympathy. We offer structure, support, and solidarity.
We provide a voice where there’s been silence, and clarity where there’s been confusion.
We stand beside those who have been exploited, not just to help them recover—but to help them reclaim their story and rebuild their future.
Because financial justice is not a luxury.
It’s a human right.
If you or someone you know has been affected by financial exploitation, we are here.
You are not alone.
Learn more at: Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation).
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