Tories press Labor over Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged role in RBS asset sale
The government is facing renewed political pressure to reveal whether Jeffrey Epstein played a role in negotiations over the sale of a taxpayer-backed asset class during Labour’s last term.
Senior Conservatives have launched a series of parliamentary questions seeking clarification on the sale of parts of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Sempra joint venture to JP Morgan in 2010, when Lord Mandelson was business secretary.
This intervention follows disclosures contained in JP Morgan’s 2019 internal report, which was later filed in a New York court. The document also included emails in which Epstein said he had conducted meetings between Mandelson and Jes Staley, then chief executive of JP Morgan’s investment banking division, when the bank was considering a takeover of RBS.
The interview comes months after Epstein was released from prison in the United States following a conviction for child solicitation, which has intensified scrutiny of his continued access to high-profile political and financial figures.
In a written parliamentary question, Kevin Hollinrake, chairman of the Conservative Party and business minister, asked what records the Department of Business and Trade had related to the letters involving Mandelson, Epstein and the Sempra transaction. Responding on behalf of the department, business minister Kate Dearden said “any such information is not readily available and can only be obtained at a disparate cost”.
That response was challenged by other answers to parliamentary questions tabled by Mike Wood, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, who confirmed that records of the period were held electronically and could be searched by keyword.
Commenting on the conflict, Hollinrake said the government needed to “come clean” about Mandelson’s role in the deal. “It’s unbelievable how expensive it is to retrieve records when the government admits they are electronic and searchable,” he said, adding that the position “fuels concerns that labor ministers are hiding something”.
The Treasury, responding separately to questions on the matter, said it had conducted a “proportional search” of its archives and found no evidence of correspondence or meetings between Epstein’s ministers and Treasury officials or officials in relation to the sale. It stressed that oversight of RBS following its bailout was the responsibility of the Treasury.
A source close to Mandelson dismissed the allegations as “nonsense” and insisted that there were no meetings involving Epstein and that the business department had no role in the transaction. “It was a matter for the Treasury and he was not involved at all,” said the source.
RBS, which was bailed out by the government during the 2008 financial crisis, was required to divest a number of assets under EU competition rules, including its stake in the Sempra commodities business.
Mandelson was sacked as UK ambassador to the United States by Sir Keir Starmer earlier this year following revelations of his relationship with Epstein. Meanwhile, Jes Staley was banned by the Financial Conduct Authority in July from holding senior roles in UK financial services because of his links to Epstein.
Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on other child sex trafficking charges. The recent release of documents by the US Department of Justice detailing his network of associates has re-examined his relationships with politicians and financiers on both sides of the Atlantic.
