Ex-Barclays CEO gears up for explosive trial over City regulator’s allegations on Jeffrey Epstein ties | Financial Conduct Authority

The former chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, is gearing up for an explosive trial next month, that will force him to address evidence suggesting he hid the depth of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein: the sex offender that he referred to as “family”.

Court documents seen by the Guardian reveal myriad allegations made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), including that Epstein messaged Staley about sex, women and foreign holidays, while working behind the scenes to bolster Staley’s career by liaising with government officials, business leaders and royalty.

The documents also allege Staley referred to Epstein as “family” and “uncle Jeffrey”, and that the pair shared confidential business information and used Staley’s eldest daughter as an “intermediary” to stay in touch years after he was appointed chief executive of Barclays.

That is despite Staley’s claims that he cut ties with the disgraced financier before taking the reins at Barclays in late 2015.

The evidence will be heard during a high-profile two-week hearing at the Upper Tribunal in London in early March, in which Staley hopes to overturn a 2023 FCA ruling that has cost him his reputation and £18m in pay and bonuses.

Staley resigned as Barclays chief executive in November 2021 over an FCA investigation into whether he had failed to disclose the full extent of his ties with the sex offender when he joined the bank.

In September 2023, he was banned from holding any senior City role after the FCA ruled he had misled the regulator over his relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex-trafficking underage girls. Staley has denied knowing about Epstein’s sex crimes.

Staley issued a statement at the time saying: “If I had known who JE [Jeffrey Epstein] really was, there is absolutely no doubt that I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today. Prior to undertaking my former role, it was known that I had had a relationship with JE.”

The FCA’s claims have expanded, largely due to evidence gathered from Epstein’s estate, and separate legal hearings in the US involving Staley’s former employer JP Morgan.

Staley, who took Epstein on as a client while working at JP Morgan in 2000, is due to be questioned in March about a series of messages obtained by the regulator, including more than 1,200 emails and email chains.

Epstein had an expansive network of friends and business associates, and is alleged to have helped arrange meetings and career opportunities for Staley. That involved emailing a “member of the British royal family” in June 2010, saying: “If you can find time to show Jes around with vera that would be fun,” leading to plans for dinner the following evening.

The FCA also alleges that Epstein “was mounting a campaign to assist Mr Staley in his appointment to Barclays Bank or Treasury”. In an emailed chain titled “Project Jes” in summer 2012, Epstein and a PR consultant discuss reaching out to a contact working for the then chancellor, George Osborne, and Barclays deputy chair Mike Rake.

The FCA claims that between 2008 and 2011, Staley shared confidential business information with Epstein, including matters related to his own salary negotiations, unreleased shareholder letters, and litigation involving Epstein, even when this raised a conflict of interest with Staley’s then employer, JP Morgan.

The pair also sent messages about women and sex. On 30 August 2009, Epstein emailed Staley asking if he needed anything while he was in London, to which Staley replied: “yep”. Epstein emailed someone named “Irina” three days later to inform her that “jes staley is staying at the berkley hotel in london tonight”.

The regulator is also expected to push Staley on allegations that Epstein gave “significant support” to Staley’s daughter Alexa, including connecting her to senior figures at Ivy League universities. The FCA says Staley referred to Epstein as “uncle Jeffrey” in messages to Alexa, and is alleged to have used his daughter as an “intermediary” to pass messages between the pair after Staley joined Barclays, between 2016 and 2017.

In November 2016, shortly after Donald Trump’s presidential election win, Epstein emailed Alexa at two addresses saying: “could you ask your dad if he would like be considered for treasury.” Alexa’s replied: “Spoke with him. He said not yet, but thanks. Alexa.”

Court documents filed by Staley’s legal team say that his “stated position has been and remains, that he had no contact or communication with Mr Epstein after joining Barclays in December 2015”, and noted that all the emails to Alexa were initiated by Epstein and involved only five email chains.

“Mr Staley made no attempt to contact Mr Epstein once this correspondence was initiated, despite Mr Epstein’s attempts to engage him in communications,” they said.

“This correspondence does not prove, expressly or by reasonable inference, that the applicant provided answers to the authority which are misleading or which lack candour or that he provided inaccurate information to Barclays senior executives and board members.”

The Guardian was not able to reach Alexa Staley for comment.