Staley and Epstein exchanged 1,200 emails that included mysterious phrases

Former Barclays chief Jes Staley who left the bank to fight the findings of a probe into whether he lied about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein exchanged 1,200 emails with the convicted sex offender.

The content of the emails included seemingly codified phrases such as “snow white” which investigators were unable to decipher.

The news was first reported by the Financial Times.

The former JPMorgan banker quit his role as chief executive of Barclays last week after seeing the early findings of an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority into his characterisation of his relationship with Epstein.

One of the key pieces of evidence examined by the watchdogs was a pool of emails provided by Staley’s former employer, JPMorgan.

Staley established a relationship with Epstein during his 30-year tenure at the Wall Street behemoth.

Epstein was a long running client of JPMorgan’s private wealth division – which Staley led for several years – and allegedly sent wealthy clients Staley’s way.

Kathleen Harris, a lawyer for Staley, said: “We wish to make it expressly clear that our client had no involvement in any of the alleged crimes committed by Mr Epstein, and codewords were never used by Mr Staley in any communications with Mr Epstein, ever.”