Deutsche Bank to pay $75m to settle Epstein lawsuit

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay up to $75m to settle a lawsuit alleging the lender helped facilitate human trafficking by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by retaining him as a client.

The lawsuit was brought in November by an unnamed woman, referred to as Jane Doe, who says she was abused by the late Epstein. The payout is expected to be shared among a number of women.

Deutsche Bank accepted Epstein as a client despite numerous claims of sexual assault against him, all made by underage girls, and maintained the relationship until 2018. Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution, was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors. He died in prison a month later.

In 2020, Deutsche Bank paid $150m to the New York State Department of Financial Services over the lender's relationship with the disgraced financier. At the time, it said: "We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learned from our mistakes and shortcomings."

Deutsche Bank had sought to have Doe's class dismissed. It argued that a settlement reached with the Epstein estate last year, under which Doe received $7.4m, covered its alleged liability too.

In a joint statement, Doe’s law firms - Boies Schiller Flexner, and Edwards Pottinger - said the "ground breaking" settlement was the culmination of "more than a decade-long investigation to hold one of Epstein’s financial banking partners responsible for the role it played in facilitating his trafficking organisation".

Deutsche has yet to comment on the settlement, which is expected to draw a line under legal claims relating to the lender’s relationship with Epstein.

It is not the only financial institute targeted in the wake of the Epstein scandal, however. Rival JP Morgan is facing two separate lawsuits: in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home, and by another unnamed woman, Jane Doe 1. Epstein was a client of the US lender for 15 years until 2013.

JP Morgan, which is suing former employee Jes Staley over his relationship with Epstein, has said previously that both claims are "misplaced and without merit". Staley, formerly chief executive of JP Morgan’s investment bank, left the lender in 2013 after more than 30 years, becoming chief executive of Barclays two years later. He left the UK bank in 2021.