(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The UK Financial Conduct Authority filed explosive new records Friday in a dispute with former Barclays CEO Jes Staley, revealing that Staley’s relationship with deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein ran deeper than he previously disclosed.
The UK FCA’s filings were made in a long-running dispute with Staley, who was banned in 2023 from holding senior positions in the UK financial services industry. Staley appealed that ruling and will have his hearing in March.
The FCA has argued that Staley misled both Barclays and regulators about the nature of his relationship with Epstein—and the records filed Friday go a long way in telling that story.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the records filed show that Staley considered Epstein a “deep friend,” even after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes against juveniles in 2009. In fact, when Epstein’s brief jail stint was over in July 2009, Staley wrote him the following email: “I toast your courage!!!!”
Later that year, Staley again wrote to Epstein: “I owe you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound.”
Over the next 10 years, Staley maintained his relationship with Epstein, visiting his private Caribbean island in 2015.
New records disclosed today reportedly show that Jeffrey Epstein pitched the CEO of Barclays on becoming the next US Treasury Secretary in late 2016 pic.twitter.com/HRmFATsOzT
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) January 31, 2025
“Thanks for the flight and thanks for the lunch. Your place is crazy, and special. It has a warmth and silliness that makes it yours. I count u as a deep friend,” Staley wrote in an email to Epstein, according to the Journal.
Furthermore, Staley often used his daughter, Alexa Staley, as an intermediary to conceal their relationship, the Journal reported Friday.
In the fall of 2016, Epstein emailed Alexis to offer his father a potential gig as U.S. Treasury Secretary.
“Spoke with him. He said not yet, but thanks,” Alexa reportedly replied.
It’s unclear whether this was after Donald Trump won the election that year, as the Journal didn’t disclose the exact date. Trump and Epstein were once considered friends, but they had a falling out in 2004 over a bidding war for a mansion near Mar-a-Lago. Trump also kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago in 2007 for harassing the daughter of a member there.
Additionally, disgraced author Michael Wolff reported last November that Epstein was “afraid” of Trump up until his final days, when he died in prison.
According to Wolff, Epstein believed that Trump caused him to be initially investigated by law enforcement in 2005 after the two had a fight over the property near Mar-a-Lago—an allegation that, if true, could arguably be seen as a heroic move by Trump, regardless of his motives.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
