US Senator Elizabeth Warren has accused Barclays of failing to properly investigate former chief executive Jes Staley's ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, calling the bank's handling of the matter into question. In a letter to Barclays chair Nigel Higgins, seen by the Guardian, Warren said it was "deeply unclear" how the bank's investigation into Staley failed to uncover his decades-long relationship with Epstein, raising broader concerns about the bank's governance and its ability to hold senior executives accountable.

The letter, co-signed by Congress members Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi, gives Barclays two weeks to answer questions about its handling of the Staley-Epstein links, including whether it reviewed weaknesses in its hiring process. It highlights Higgins's admission that he never directly questioned Staley about his last contact with Epstein before telling the Financial Conduct Authority that contact had ended "well before" Staley joined Barclays, suggesting the board simply took him "at his word". The lawmakers also noted Barclays' roughly $200bn (£150bn) of US assets and warned that its banking privileges depend on sound management. Staley, who met Epstein in 2000 via JP Morgan and led Barclays from 2015 until stepping down in 2021, was subsequently banned from UK banking; the letter was sent shortly before he faced a closed-door US House Oversight Committee hearing.