Plaintiffs called the settlement a “historic victory,” though the amount is less than half of the $190 million the Virgin Islands had been seeking.

“This settlement is a historic victory for survivors and for state enforcement, and it should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking,” USVI attorney general Ariel Smith said in a statement.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Smith also said JPMorgan agreed to “implement and maintain meaningful anti-trafficking measures,” which includes a commitment to elevate and report suspicious activity in the future.

But JPMorgan spokeswoman Patricia Wexler insisted that the bank had already made those commitments. “We have always worked closely with law enforcement to help combat human trafficking, and we will continue to look for ways to invest in advancing this important mission,” she said in a statement. The bank has said it deeply regrets having had any association with Epstein.

The settlement comes just one month before the two sides were set to go to trial in Manhattan, and on the heels of a $290 million settlement in a parallel case brought by Epstein’s victims.

It follows months of embarrassing discovery and depositions, showing that bank executives were informed of suspicious activity as early as 2006 but failed to fire Epstein as a client until 2013.

Epstein died in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, a death that a New York medical examiner ruled a suicide.

Prosecutors alleged he had recruited and trafficked women and girls at his mansion in New York and at a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He held dozens of accounts at JPMorgan, becoming an important source of revenue and clients for the bank’s growing private wealth division. A government filing alleged that some of his accounts had been opened for girls and women said to be recruiters, accomplices or victims of Epstein’s abuse.

He was supported internally by James Edward “Jes” Staley, then an executive at the bank, who described himself as a “profound” friend to Epstein, according to court documents.

A different JPMorgan executive said that the bank’s decision to eventually fire Epstein as a client in 2013 was made possible by Staley’s departure from the company, according to a deposition. But court documents also show that the banker handling Epstein’s accounts was authorized to maintain the relationship after 2013 as a “potential source of referrals,” and continued to communicate with him until a few months before his death.

Staley was later sued by the bank, allegations that were resolved under undisclosed terms.

Throughout the litigation JPMorgan has denied wrongdoing, while directing attention to the Virgin Islands’ failure to crack down on Epstein’s operations within its borders.

“We are pleased that the USVI will use settlement proceeds to enhance the infrastructure and capabilities of their law enforcement to prevent and combat human trafficking and other crimes in their territories,” Wexler said in a statement.