LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - Former Barclays

boss Jes Staley will on Monday mount a high-profile appeal

against his proposed ban from Britain's finance industry, which

will once again highlight his relationship with disgraced

financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Staley - also a former executive at JPMorgan ( JPM ), where

Epstein was once a major private banking client - has been

battling to clear his name since 2021, when he left Barclays ( JJCTF )

under a cloud caused by his past association with Epstein.

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in 2023

that it intended to ban Staley from senior roles over a letter

sent by Barclays ( JJCTF ) to the financial watchdog in 2019, two months

after Epstein died in jail awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

The FCA alleges Staley approved the letter which contained

two misleading statements about how close he was to Epstein and

that his last contact with the financier was "well before he

joined Barclays ( JJCTF ) in 2015".

Staley denies the allegations. In court filings, Staley says

the FCA's decision - which also includes a 1.8 million-pound

($2.3 million) fine - was made unfairly as it did not give him

or Barclays ( JJCTF ) an opportunity to explain how the key letter was

approved.

His three-week appeal will hear evidence from high-profile

figures from the world of finance, including Bank of England

Governor Andrew Bailey, who was FCA chief executive between 2016

and 2020, and Barclays Chair Nigel Higgins.

It will also feature references to some of Epstein's other

well-known associates, such as Britain's Prince Andrew and Peter

Mandleson, now British ambassador in Washington.

Staley will be cross-examined over the course of four days

from March 11 while JPMorgan ( JPM ), which in 2023 settled with Staley

in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is likely to be represented.

The bank's lawyers said at a hearing in January that it

wished to attend as some of Staley's evidence "relates to

JPMorgan ( JPM ) individuals and employees".

The FCA's case will rely on around 1,200 emails between

Staley and Epstein, in which Staley described their friendship

as "profound" and referred to Epstein as "family".

The watchdog is also using emails it received from Epstein's

estate, which it says show Staley remained in contact with

Epstein until at least 2017 through Staley's daughter.

But Staley's lawyers say in court filings that those

communications were all initiated by Epstein and had not led to

further contact between the men.

($1 = 0.7942 pounds)