The UK’s financial watchdog has released a series of messages between former Barclays boss Jes Staley and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “referring to the strength of their friendship”.
The messages form part of its 79-page report, which says Staley and the late billionaire exchanged more than 1,100 emails between July 2008 and December 2012, and continued communicating “between January 2013 and October 2015, exchanging almost 600 emails during that period”.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also notes that Staley visited a number of Epstein’s properties throughout their relationship, including a private Caribbean island in April 2015.
It has provisionally concluded that it was misled by Staley over the extent of the “close personal relationship”, prompting it to fine him £1.8m and ban him from holding senior City roles. He has referred the decision to the regulator’s upper tribunal for reconsideration.
Here we examine some of the regulator’s striking findings from its three-year investigation:
July 2015: ‘Cross your toes!!!’ – Staley turns to Epstein
In late 2019, Barclays told the FCA that Staley’s last contact with Epstein “was well before he joined Barclays in 2015”.
However, unbeknownst to Barclays’ board, Staley confided in the financier throughout the process to appoint him chief executive of the bank, including in early July when he forwarded an email from Barclay’s nominations committee, commenting: “Here we go.”
Later that month, however, Epstein said: “Better if you not email me. phone only.” Staley followed up with a blank email in August and September, instructing the billionaire in the subject line to “Call my cell” and “call me”.
He went on to thank Epstein in an email with the heading “Friendship” in October, weeks before his appointment was made public. “You never wavered in our friendship these last three years. That means a lot too [sic] me … Cross your toes!!!”
The prospective boss kept Epstein informed as the nomination committee and board approved his appointment. “I should have the contract by the weekend. We’re very close.”
Staley later told the FCA that Epstein did not have a “formal or informal advisory role” regarding his appointment, but that he had previously turned to Epstein on matters relating to his career and wanted to hear his “thoughts on the matter”. Staley said he “trusted him to be discreet”.
The FCA said no one at Barclays was aware Staley had shared confidential information about the negotiations with Epstein.
“In light of his impending appointment as CEO, Mr Staley had an interest in giving Barclays the impression of a greater distance between himself and Mr Epstein than was the case at this time,” the watchdog said.
In mid-October, as his appointment drew nearer, Staley sent an email apologising to Epstein: “The press is all over me. Trying to lie low. Sorry.”
Epstein later forwarded an email to Staley from an unnamed national newspaper journalist, who was enquiring about the pair’s relationship. That resulted in the two of them discussing a previous meeting at Epstein’s home in New York, prompting Staley to reassure the financier: “Don’t worry. We will be fine.”
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That same day, Staley told Epstein: “Ok. I’m going to play is [sic] simple. I’ve known you as a client. I will tell B tomorrow … Let me know if they say something else. But stay away from them. I’m fine.”
The journalist then told Barclays that the article would allege that Epstein sought to influence Staley’s appointment. After speaking to Staley, Barclays instructed a law firm to send the newspaper a letter that “should major on quashing the notion that the two are close … and certainly for 2015 that there has been no collaboration”.
An article later published by the Daily Mail on 25 October stated that the “new head of top British bank Barclays was secretly backed for the job by the notorious billionaire paedophile former friend of Prince Andrew”.
The FCA said in its report that “no individual at Barclays was aware that Mr Staley and Mr Epstein had discussed press enquiries regarding their relationship”.
2019: Barclays denies boss’s ‘close relationship’ with Epstein
The FCA contacted Barclays four years later in August 2019, just days after Epstein died in prison while awaiting trial on charges of sex-trafficking underage girls.
The regulator asked the bank to confirm what it had done to satisfy itself that there was no impropriety with respect to their relationship, after press reports alleging deep ties between Epstein and Wall Street figures including Staley.
Barclays replied in October, saying at least three executives and board members had conversations with Staley “where he has described his interactions with Mr Epstein”.
They went on to say that Staley “confirmed to us that he did not have a close relationship with Mr Epstein” and his “last contact with Mr Epstein was well before he joined Barclays in 2015”.
The watchdog said both statements were “misleading”, but had been “recklessly approved” by Staley, leading to its decision to fine him and ban him from senior City roles. Staley said on Thursday: “I am very disappointed by the FCA’s decision and I will continue to challenge it.”
