Paul Morris: Jeffrey Epstein’s Banker Across JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank
Snapshot
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Paul V. Morris |
| Profession | Private banker and wealth adviser |
| Epstein connection | Relationship manager for Jeffrey Epstein at JPMorgan Chase, then at Deutsche Bank |
| JPMorgan role | Member of the private banking team that serviced Epstein, identified in a 2026 Senate staff report as a primary point of contact |
| Deutsche Bank role | Relationship manager who helped bring Epstein to Deutsche Bank and oversaw the 2013 onboarding |
| Later employment | Joined Merrill Lynch in August 2016 and led the Morris Group within Merrill Private Wealth Management |
| Public departure | Bank of America confirmed in June 2026 that Morris had left Merrill Lynch |
| Regulatory record | The New York Department of Financial Services did not name Morris, but described an anonymized “Relationship Manager 1.” A 2026 Senate staff report identified that person as Morris |
| Litigation record | Morris was deposed in litigation brought by Epstein survivors against Deutsche Bank. The transcript was not publicly available in the records reviewed for this article |
| Criminal status | No public criminal charge against Morris was identified as of September 16, 2026 |
| Central significance | Morris provides documented personnel continuity between Epstein’s final years at JPMorgan and his onboarding at Deutsche Bank |
Paul Morris is a private banker whose relationship with Jeffrey Epstein crossed two major financial institutions. Public records place Morris on the JPMorgan team that serviced Epstein and later at the center of the process that brought Epstein to Deutsche Bank in 2013.
That chronology matters. Epstein did not arrive at Deutsche Bank as an unknown applicant. He followed a banker who had already worked with him at JPMorgan Chase. The New York Department of Financial Services found that Deutsche Bank knew about Epstein’s criminal history before onboarding him, classified the relationship as high risk, and nevertheless opened more than 40 accounts for Epstein, related entities, and associates over the life of the relationship.
Morris has not been publicly charged with a crime in connection with Epstein. The available record does not establish that he participated in Epstein’s sexual abuse or trafficking. It does establish that he helped manage Epstein as a valuable banking client, promoted the potential revenue from the relationship, and served as a central professional bridge between two banks that later paid major regulatory penalties or civil settlements connected to their handling of Epstein.
Why Paul Morris Matters
The importance of Morris is institutional rather than social. His documented relationship with Epstein concerns access to banking, asset transfers, account onboarding, and private wealth services.
Three facts make his role especially significant:
- Morris had prior knowledge of Epstein as a JPMorgan client.
- Morris joined Deutsche Bank in November 2012 and soon presented Epstein to senior Deutsche Bank management as a prospective client.
- Epstein moved substantial assets from JPMorgan to Deutsche Bank in 2013, with Morris serving as the relationship manager.
The transition shows how a high value client could retain financial access through personnel continuity even after one institution ended the relationship. It also raises a basic accountability question: what information followed the client when the banker changed firms?
The 2026 staff report issued by the office of Senator Ron Wyden called Morris’s role a significant element of Deutsche Bank’s mishandling of the Epstein relationship. That wording is a conclusion of Senate investigators, not a judicial finding. The report recommended further investigation of Morris and other bankers by prosecutors and financial regulators. A recommendation to investigate is not a criminal charge and does not establish guilt.
JPMorgan Chase
Epstein was a JPMorgan private bank client from 1998 until 2013. During that period, the bank provided services to Epstein personally and to entities connected with him.
The Wyden staff report identifies Morris, Mary Casey, and Justin Nelson as relationship managers for Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts. It states that JPMorgan due diligence records identified Morris as a primary point of contact and that internal correspondence described Epstein as Morris’s largest client.
In 2010, a JPMorgan record ranked Epstein among Morris’s largest clients and listed an estimated net worth of $500 million. The underlying record is identified as JPM SDNYLIT 00011654.
The larger account context was substantial. According to the Senate report and an expert report filed in litigation brought by the United States Virgin Islands, Epstein’s balances at JPMorgan often exceeded $140 million and more than $1 billion in cash flows moved through related accounts between 2003 and 2013. The Senate report estimated that JPMorgan earned more than $8.1 million in fees from Epstein between 2009 and 2014.
Those aggregate figures describe the bank relationship. They should not automatically be attributed to Morris personally. The record establishes that he was one of Epstein’s bankers, not that every transaction or internal decision passed through him.
The existing warning record
By the time Morris left JPMorgan, Epstein’s criminal history was public. Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to two prostitution related offenses, including solicitation of a minor, served a jail sentence, and registered as a sex offender. Civil claims and news reports had also described allegations involving multiple girls and young women.
JPMorgan records later made public in litigation show repeated internal reviews of the relationship. Senior personnel debated whether to retain Epstein, while compliance officials raised concerns about his criminal conduct and suspicious financial activity.
The public record does not yet provide a complete account of what Morris personally received, read, or understood during every phase of those reviews. The Senate staff report concluded that his history with the account gave him knowledge of Epstein’s criminal record and troubling transaction patterns. Morris’s unavailable deposition could bear directly on that issue.
Moving From JPMorgan to Deutsche Bank
Morris joined Deutsche Bank’s private wealth department in November 2012. The New York Department of Financial Services later described him anonymously as “Relationship Manager 1.” The Wyden report and public litigation records identify Morris as that banker.
According to the 2020 New York regulator consent order, the relationship manager had previously been part of the team servicing Epstein at another bank. Soon after joining Deutsche Bank, he suggested to senior management that Epstein could generate millions of dollars in revenue and provide leads to other lucrative clients.
The regulator said the banker and Epstein began discussing a possible Deutsche Bank relationship in spring 2013. It did not determine who initiated the contact.
This distinction matters. The record supports saying that Morris promoted and managed the proposed relationship. It does not conclusively establish whether Epstein first approached Morris or Morris first approached Epstein.
The 2013 Onboarding Proposal
In April 2013, a junior relationship coordinator prepared a memorandum for Morris to send to senior Deutsche Bank executives. The memorandum disclosed significant adverse information about Epstein.
It stated that Epstein had been charged in connection with solicitation of an underage person, had served 13 months of an 18 month sentence, had been accused of paying young women for massages in his Florida home, and had been involved in 17 civil settlements related to the conduct behind his conviction.
In the accompanying email, “Relationship Manager 1” estimated that the relationship could produce flows of $100 million to $300 million, possibly more, and annual revenue of $2 million to $4 million. He also proposed that the accounts be opened for Epstein affiliated entities rather than for Epstein personally.
The consent order does not say that using entity accounts was unlawful. It does, however, place the proposal beside the bank’s knowledge of Epstein’s criminal history and the revenue forecast. That juxtaposition is central to the regulatory record.
On May 5, 2013, a senior executive told the relationship manager that internal legal and compliance leaders did not believe the relationship required review by the Americas Reputational Risk Committee, provided that the ordinary know your customer and anti money laundering process found nothing further. The committee did not formally meet during the initial onboarding.
The regulator later found that the decision was inconsistent with the bank’s procedures, which required escalation when a proposed client could present reputational risk.
“Great News” and the Transfer of Assets
Deutsche Bank officially began its Epstein relationship on August 19, 2013, when it opened brokerage accounts for Southern Trust Company and Southern Financial LLC.
In September 2013, Morris told Deutsche Bank wealth management executive Chip Packard that Epstein was sending about $200 million from JPMorgan. Packard replied with congratulations. The exchange appears in EFTA01344411.
The brief email is important because it documents the transaction in the bankers’ own language. It shows:
- Morris reporting a major transfer from JPMorgan.
- Senior management treating the transfer as a business success.
- Epstein’s onboarding producing a substantial asset movement soon after the relationship opened.
It does not, by itself, prove that the assets were criminal proceeds or that the transfer violated banking law.
The “Success Story” Presentation
After Epstein’s arrival, Deutsche Bank included the new relationship in a presentation of success stories for managing directors in its private banking operation.
The slide prepared by Morris described Epstein as a billionaire entrepreneur, one of JPMorgan’s largest brokerage clients, and a person with multiple financial relationships across Wall Street. The document is available as EFTA01344990.
Another record described Morris as having a strong existing relationship and a deep relationship with Epstein, developed through frequent dialogue with Epstein and his office. That record is EFTA01344574.
These descriptions are relevant because they came from business records created close to the events. They establish that Morris presented his prior relationship with Epstein as an asset in winning and servicing the account.
They do not establish that the relationship was personal outside banking or that Morris knew about uncharged criminal acts.
Epstein as a Major Deutsche Bank Client
By 2014, Epstein’s relationship had become one of Deutsche Bank’s largest private banking relationships.
A list of the bank’s 50 largest private banking clients placed Southern Financial at number 47 with $296 million and named Morris as the relationship manager. The record is EFTA01460765.
The Wyden report states that Southern Financial was Morris’s only client on that top 50 list. The report interpreted that concentration as a powerful economic incentive to protect the relationship. That is the report’s analysis, not a judicial finding about Morris’s motive.
The underlying business facts are narrower and well supported: Epstein brought a very large asset relationship to the bank, Morris managed it, and the bank recorded the relationship as a significant commercial success.
High Risk Classification and Suspicious Activity
Deutsche Bank classified Epstein as a high risk client from onboarding and designated him an informal “Honorary PEP” because of his connections to political figures. PEP means politically exposed person.
The bank eventually opened and funded more than 40 accounts for Epstein, related entities, and associates. The regulator found that its enhanced monitoring was not tailored to the risks presented by Epstein’s known history.
The consent order documented transactions that should have prompted greater scrutiny, including:
- At least 18 wires of $10,000 or more to people publicly alleged to have been Epstein co conspirators.
- Payments for settlement obligations to alleged victims.
- Rent, legal, tuition, and immigration expenses for young women.
- Payments to women with Eastern European surnames through Russian banks.
- More than $800,000 in cash withdrawn on Epstein’s behalf by an attorney over roughly four years.
- A pattern of 97 third party withdrawals, generally for $7,500 each.
The regulator found that Deutsche Bank filed required currency reports but failed to scrutinize the account activity adequately. It described the bank’s failures as major, unacceptable, and inexcusable.
Not all of those events occurred during Morris’s tenure as relationship manager. The consent order says he was replaced by “Relationship Manager 2,” later identified as Stewart Oldfield, by April 2016. Some of the best known cash and wire events occurred after that handoff. They should not be assigned to Morris without specific evidence.
The 2015 Risk Review
Fresh reporting and litigation concerning Epstein prompted Deutsche Bank’s reputational risk committee to revisit the relationship in early 2015.
On January 22, 2015, Morris and a senior Deutsche Bank executive met Epstein at his Manhattan home. According to the consent order, the executive asked Epstein about the new allegations and appeared satisfied with his response. Deutsche Bank told regulators that it had no contemporaneous record describing the substance of that discussion and knew of no further investigation of the allegations beyond speaking with Epstein.
On January 30, the reputational risk committee met to discuss Epstein. Although bank procedures required detailed minutes, Deutsche Bank said no minutes existed for that meeting. The committee allowed the relationship to continue under conditions concerning unusual transactions and further reputational developments.
The regulator found that those conditions were not communicated to everyone on the relationship team. It said Epstein’s relationship managers continued handling the client in the same manner as before the review.
This episode establishes Morris’s presence at a direct risk discussion with Epstein. The record does not disclose what Morris said during the meeting or whether he supported, opposed, or merely implemented the decision to continue the relationship.
Handoff to Stewart Oldfield
By April 2016, Deutsche Bank had replaced Morris with Stewart Oldfield as Epstein’s relationship manager. The consent order does not fully explain the reason for the change.
Oldfield later handled compliance questions and account activity during the final years of the relationship. Separating the two bankers’ tenures is essential:
| Period | Relationship manager | Evidentiary significance |
|---|---|---|
| Before November 2012 | Morris was on the JPMorgan coverage team | Prior institutional knowledge and client history |
| November 2012 through early 2016 | Morris at Deutsche Bank | Recruitment, onboarding, initial accounts, asset transfer, early risk reviews |
| By April 2016 through the later relationship | Stewart Oldfield | Later cash activity, compliance questions, payments, and eventual account closure process |
The bank told Epstein in December 2018 that it would end the relationship. Later released records indicated that some accounts remained open during the transfer process until after Epstein’s July 2019 arrest. That later closure period belongs primarily to the bank and the team then servicing the accounts, not automatically to Morris.
Merrill Lynch and Continued Contact
Morris joined Merrill Lynch in August 2016 and led the Morris Group within Merrill Private Wealth Management, according to Reuters and his former professional profile.
Documents released by the Justice Department show that Morris remained in contact with Epstein’s assistant and accountant during 2017 and 2018. Reuters reported that Morris consulted Epstein repeatedly after joining Bank of America. Epstein did not become a Merrill Lynch client, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.
Bank of America confirmed in June 2026 that Morris had left Merrill Lynch. The bank did not publicly specify when he left or whether the departure was related to Epstein. Morris did not respond to Reuters requests for comment at the time of publication.
It would be inaccurate to state as fact that he was dismissed because of Epstein based only on that report. Later trade reporting described a termination for conduct inconsistent with firm standards, but the public record reviewed here does not establish that the cited conduct concerned Epstein.
Regulatory and Civil Consequences for the Banks
In July 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services imposed a $150 million penalty on Deutsche Bank for compliance failures involving Epstein and two correspondent banking relationships. The regulator found that the bank had conducted business in an unsafe and unsound manner and failed to maintain an effective anti money laundering program.
In 2023, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to settle a proposed class action brought by women who said Epstein abused them and alleged that the bank facilitated his trafficking. A federal judge granted final approval in October 2023. Settlement is not an admission that every allegation in a complaint is true.
JPMorgan separately reached a $290 million settlement with Epstein survivors and a $75 million settlement with the United States Virgin Islands in 2023. Those settlements concerned the institutions and did not adjudicate personal liability by Morris.
The outcomes nevertheless show why the roles of individual relationship managers matter. Private banking is carried out through people who recruit clients, frame risks for supervisors, coordinate account openings, communicate with compliance personnel, and preserve or end relationships.
Litigation and the Unavailable Deposition
Morris was deposed in federal litigation brought by Epstein survivors against Deutsche Bank. The 2026 Wyden report states that Senate investigators asked both Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan for the transcript and that lawyers for both banks declined to provide it.
The transcript could answer several unresolved questions:
- What did Morris know about the reasons JPMorgan ended Epstein’s relationship?
- What information about JPMorgan’s compliance reviews did he bring to Deutsche Bank?
- Who initiated the effort to move Epstein’s assets?
- Why did the onboarding proposal favor entity accounts rather than personal accounts?
- What did Morris say at the January 2015 meeting in Epstein’s home?
- What instructions did he receive from senior executives and compliance officials?
- Why was the account reassigned in 2016?
- What was the purpose of his later contact with Epstein’s office while at Merrill Lynch?
Until the transcript is public, claims about his testimony should not be presented as established fact.
The 2026 Senate Staff Report
The report released by Senator Ron Wyden’s staff in August 2026 placed Morris among a group of bankers it said should be investigated by federal prosecutors and financial regulators. It also urged the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to subpoena communications involving Morris and Epstein.
The report alleged that senior bankers and compliance failures across several institutions helped sustain Epstein’s access to the financial system. It described Morris as a central figure in the transfer from JPMorgan to Deutsche Bank.
The report’s recommendations carry public significance, but their legal status must be clear:
| Statement type | Status |
|---|---|
| Morris managed Epstein at JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank | Supported by banking, regulatory, litigation, and congressional records |
| Morris helped onboard Epstein at Deutsche Bank | Supported by the consent order and underlying records |
| Morris forecast substantial revenue from Epstein | Supported by the consent order |
| Epstein transferred about $200 million from JPMorgan | Supported by a contemporaneous email |
| Morris should be investigated | Recommendation of Senate investigators |
| Morris criminally enabled trafficking | Not established by a criminal judgment identified in the public record |
| Morris knew every transaction financed abuse | Not established by the records reviewed |
Evidence Timeline
| Date | Event | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Before November 2012 | Morris serves on JPMorgan’s team for Epstein | JPMorgan records summarized in litigation and the Wyden report |
| 2010 | Morris ranks Epstein among his largest clients and records a $500 million net worth | JPM SDNYLIT 00011654, cited by the Wyden report |
| November 2012 | Morris joins Deutsche Bank | NYDFS consent order |
| Spring 2013 | Morris and Epstein discuss a Deutsche Bank relationship | NYDFS consent order |
| April 2013 | Onboarding memorandum discloses Epstein’s conviction, sentence, and civil settlements | NYDFS consent order |
| April 2013 | Morris forecasts $100 million to $300 million in flows and $2 million to $4 million in annual revenue | NYDFS consent order |
| May 2013 | Senior management allows onboarding to proceed without a formal reputational risk committee meeting | NYDFS consent order |
| August 19, 2013 | Deutsche Bank opens accounts for Southern Trust and Southern Financial | NYDFS consent order |
| September 2013 | Morris reports that Epstein is transferring about $200 million from JPMorgan | EFTA01344411 |
| 2013 | Epstein relationship appears in a Deutsche Bank success story presentation | EFTA01344990 |
| 2014 | Southern Financial ranks number 47 among Deutsche Bank’s top 50 private banking clients with $296 million | EFTA01460765 |
| January 22, 2015 | Morris and a senior executive meet Epstein at his Manhattan home about new allegations | NYDFS consent order |
| January 30, 2015 | Deutsche Bank risk committee allows the relationship to continue under conditions | NYDFS consent order |
| By April 2016 | Stewart Oldfield replaces Morris as Epstein relationship manager | NYDFS consent order |
| August 2016 | Morris joins Merrill Lynch | Reuters and former professional profile |
| 2017 to 2018 | Released records show contact with Epstein’s office | DOJ records described by Reuters |
| 2023 | Morris is deposed in survivor litigation against Deutsche Bank | Wyden report and trade reporting |
| June 2026 | Bank of America confirms Morris has left Merrill Lynch | Reuters |
| August 2026 | Wyden staff report recommends investigation and additional subpoenas | Senate staff report |
What the Evidence Establishes
The available evidence establishes that Morris had a long professional relationship with Epstein as a private banker. It establishes that he worked on Epstein’s JPMorgan relationship, moved to Deutsche Bank, helped present Epstein to his new employer, and managed the onboarding that followed.
It establishes that the onboarding materials disclosed Epstein’s criminal history and related civil settlements. It establishes that the proposal emphasized large expected flows and millions of dollars in annual revenue. It establishes that Morris later reported a transfer of about $200 million and described his relationship with Epstein as strong and deep.
It also establishes that Deutsche Bank’s regulatory controls failed. The regulator’s findings concerned the bank’s systems, decisions, and account monitoring. Morris appears within that institutional account as the initial relationship manager, but the consent order imposed liability on Deutsche Bank rather than a personal penalty on Morris.
What the Evidence Does Not Establish
The public record reviewed for this article does not establish that Morris participated in sexual abuse, recruited victims, visited Epstein’s properties for sexual purposes, or knowingly processed a specific payment to finance a particular act of abuse.
It does not establish that all suspicious activity in Epstein’s Deutsche Bank accounts occurred while Morris managed them. Many later events involved Stewart Oldfield and other personnel.
It does not establish the complete contents of Morris’s deposition, his private explanations, or every compliance communication he received. It also does not establish that his 2026 departure from Merrill Lynch resulted from the Epstein disclosures.
Association, employment, and appearance in released records are not proof of criminal conduct. The strongest case for scrutiny rests on documented banking actions, not on name counts or proximity alone.
Unresolved Questions
- Will Morris’s deposition transcript be unsealed or produced to Congress?
- What did JPMorgan tell Morris about the final decision to remove Epstein as a client?
- Did Morris disclose JPMorgan’s full risk history to Deutsche Bank?
- Who proposed using entity accounts rather than personal accounts, and why?
- Which senior Deutsche Bank executives reviewed the revenue forecast and onboarding memorandum?
- What occurred during the January 2015 meeting at Epstein’s Manhattan home?
- Why were the risk committee’s conditions not communicated to the full relationship team?
- Why did Stewart Oldfield replace Morris by April 2016?
- What services or referrals did Morris discuss with Epstein after joining Merrill Lynch?
- Did any regulator investigate Morris individually?
- Did Bank of America conduct an internal review of his post 2016 contact with Epstein’s office?
- Why did Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan decline to give Senate investigators his deposition transcript?
Related EpsteinWiki Articles
- Jeffrey Epstein
- JPMorgan Chase and Jeffrey Epstein
- Deutsche Bank
- Mary Erdoes
- Jes Staley
- Mary Casey
- Justin Nelson
- Chip Packard
- Stewart Oldfield
- Amanda Kirby
- Darren Indyke
- Richard Kahn
- Southern Trust Company
Sources
- United States Senate Finance Committee staff report, How Wall Street Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking, August 2026
- New York Department of Financial Services, Deutsche Bank consent order, July 2020
- EFTA01344411, email concerning the transfer from JPMorgan
- EFTA01344990, Deutsche Bank success story presentation
- EFTA01344574, description of the Morris and Epstein relationship
- EFTA01460765, Deutsche Bank top 50 private banking client list
- Doe v. Deutsche Bank complaint, Southern District of New York, November 2022
- Reuters, Deutsche Bank agrees to $75 million Epstein survivor settlement, May 2023
- Reuters, court grants final approval to Deutsche Bank settlement, October 2023
- Reuters, Paul Morris leaves Merrill Lynch, June 2026
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