James “Jes” Staley, the former JPMorgan Chase executive who was CEO of Barclays for six years, has been banned from holding senior roles in the UK financial services industry for misleading regulators about his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement Thursday, the Financial Conduct Authority announced it had fined Staley £1.8 million ($2.2 million) and banned him from holding “senior management or significant influence functions” in the industry.

In order for a CEO to lead by example and exercise good judgment, they must exercise sound judgment. Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said in a statement that Staley failed to do this.

“It is right to prohibit him from holding a senior position in the financial services industry if he cannot act with integrity by disclosing uncomfortable truths about his close relationship with Mr Epstein.”

While in detention in New York awaiting trial on separate charges accusing him of sexually abusing underage girls, Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on a sex crime conviction from 2008.

“If I had known who Epstein really was, I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today,” Staley said in a statement.

In addition, the Barclays letter claimed that Staley had stopped communicating with Epstein well before he joined the British bank in December 2015. According to the watchdog, Staley contacted Epstein before his appointment as CEO was announced on Oct. 28 that year.

FCA said Staley has appealed the FCA’s ruling, referring it to the Upper Tribunal, after 30 years at JPMorgan.