[imagesource: Tolga Akmen /AFP / Getty]

Jes Staley, the former Barclays chief executive pictured above, has some explaining to do.

The 64-year-old has resigned from his position after being shown preliminary conclusions of a probe by UK regulators into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the report, the pair exchanged around 1 200 emails over a four-year period between 2008 and 2012, when Staley worked at Wall Street giant JP Morgan.

While many of the emails were relatively mundane, others have raised suspicion. This from The Financial Times:

[The emails] showed a close relationship between the two men, according to the people familiar with the contents.

However, regulators have highlighted certain terms that do not have an obvious meaning. The “snow white” reference was written in a short, two-message exchange referring to a conversation the men had previously had in person, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

Image: New York Post

Regulators at the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority are yet to draw conclusions over the phrase, a second person said.

Urban Dictionary’s top-rated definition for ‘Snow White’ is cocaine. That’s far from conclusive.

Kathleen Harris, a lawyer for Staley, says that her client “had no involvement in any of the alleged crimes committed by Mr Epstein, and code words were never used by Mr Staley in any communications with Mr Epstein, ever”.

Maybe she can ask him to clarify what the pair meant by ‘Snow White’ then?

It’s worth reminding everyone that Epstein was sentenced to prison in Florida in 2009 for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.

Staley actually visited Epstein while he was behind bars, and their email communication continued for a further three years after that.

Further awkward questions are being asked about their relationship because, despite Staley saying that their relationship “tapered off” from 2013, the former Barclays boss sailed his yacht to Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2015.

The one that locals referred to as ‘Paedo Island’.

The visit occurred just a few months before he joined Barclays.

Staley is contesting the UK regulators’ findings and has lawyered up, making use of the same firm that represented him when he was fined £642 000 for trying to unmask a whistleblower in 2018.

[source:ft]