US Senator Elizabeth Warren has sent a private letter to Barclays chair Nigel Higgins giving the bank two weeks to answer questions about how it handled information on the links between former CEO Jes Staley and Jeffrey Epstein. The letter, obtained and reviewed by The Guardian, was sent on behalf of Warren — the most senior Democrat on the US Senate Banking Committee — and Congress members Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi, both of whom sit on the US House Oversight Committee. The Guardian

The timing was pointed: the letter landed hours before Staley was due to be questioned in a closed-door hearing by the House Oversight Committee. Warren, Khanna, and Krishnamoorthi are effectively pursuing the matter simultaneously across both chambers of Congress.

The lawmakers' letter presses Barclays on a specific and uncomfortable question: whether the bank conducted any reviews into shortcomings in its executive hiring process that allowed the board to hire a CEO with ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It also invokes the leverage Congress can bring to bear. The letter states that holding local banking licences and operating in the United States is a "privilege" contingent on the character and fitness of management. (A banking licence is official permission from regulators to run a bank in a given country; losing it would mean Barclays could no longer operate its roughly $200 billion (£150 billion) in US assets.)

At the centre of the congressional pressure is a striking admission by Barclays chair Nigel Higgins. He conceded that he had not asked Staley about his last contact with Jeffrey Epstein before declaring to the Financial Conduct Authority — the UK's chief banking regulator — that the last contact was "well before" Staley joined Barclays. That declaration proved consequential. Staley was forced to step down as Barclays CEO in 2021 after City regulators launched an investigation into his relationship with Epstein. He was subsequently banned from the UK banking industry by regulators. Staley unsuccessfully tried to overturn the ban in a UK court hearing in June 2025.

The Staley–Epstein relationship traces back to 2000, when Staley became head of JP Morgan's private bank and Epstein was a client. Staley reportedly exchanged 1,200 emails with Epstein, as reported by The Guardian in November 2021. Staley went on to become CEO of Barclays in 2015. Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.

Warren's letter to Barclays is the latest in a sustained, multi-front congressional campaign targeting financial institutions' ties to Epstein. In October 2025, Warren urged US regulators to investigate Staley's ties to Epstein, asking whether US bankers including the ex-Barclays boss aided the late sex offender. The following month, US regulators stated they were "taking seriously" allegations of bankers' support for Epstein, following Warren's calls. The Guardian

The scrutiny extends beyond Barclays. Warren pressed JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon in July 2026 about his contact with Epstein, citing emails in the Epstein files that she said raised questions about Dimon's relationship with the late sex offender. The Senate Banking Committee's letter to Dimon regarding Epstein is dated July 10, 2026. The Guardian

Separately, the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve regarding Epstein investigations, dated February 25, 2026, which cited a Guardian report from February 5, 2026 about a rape allegation against Staley. (The FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve are the three main US agencies that oversee banks.)

The broader context here is one of escalating congressional pressure converging with regulatory action on both sides of the Atlantic. The FCA's ban on Staley, upheld by a UK court in mid-2025, established a regulatory finding that Barclays' board failed to adequately scrutinise its CEO's Epstein connections. Warren's letter now asks whether the bank itself ever looked inward at the governance breakdown that allowed Staley to be hired in the first place. The invocation of US banking licences as contingent on management "character and fitness" signals that lawmakers are framing this as an ongoing eligibility question for Barclays' American operations, not merely a historical reckoning.

For institutions watching from the sidelines, the message is that the Epstein fallout has not exhausted its regulatory or political cycle. Warren has systematically worked through the major US-adjacent financial institutions with Epstein exposure — pressing Dimon at JP Morgan, demanding answers from Higgins at Barclays, and engaging federal regulators at the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve. The two-week deadline imposed on Barclays means the bank's response, or lack thereof, will likely become the next flashpoint in a saga that has already cost a CEO his career and his industry access.