It was a pilgrimage to see a long-standing ally who had helped make him a very wealthy man. But as Jes Staley"s yacht, the 90ft two-master Bequia, slipped into the harbour at the Caribbean Island of Little St James, the banker was about to embark on a whole new fateful voyage. Within eight months, Staley would be chief executive of Barclays, and the acquaintance who called Little St James home – billionaire convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – would become a millstone around his neck. Epstein was found dead in a prison cell last August, having apparently committed suicide following a slew of allegations about his abuse of underage girls. As the sex offender’s victims poured forward, the Epstein scandal engulfed and embarrassed his elite social circle and ripped through the royal family. On Thursday the fallout from his crimes found a new focus at Barclays. The bank revealed City watchdogs are investigating whether Staley"s relationship with Epstein was properly characterised when regulators began asking questions last year. Staley"s work with the billionaire dates back long before his yacht dropped anchor in April 2015, with his wife Debbie on board. The men first met more than two decades ago when they were introduced while Staley was running JP Morgan’s private bank. The encounter sparked a long and mutually beneficial relationship that appears to have opened doors for both and bolstered their business interests. A picture from 2011 shows the pair at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion in the company of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Staley is also afforded an entry in Epstein"s infamous little black book, alongside a star-studded list of other contacts including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Epstein is widely reported to have introduced lucrative clients to Staley at JP Morgan including hedge fund tycoon Glenn Dubin, whose wife – a former Miss Sweden – once dated Epstein. Staley oversaw a 2004 tie-up where JP Morgan bought a majority stake in Dubin"s hedge fund Highbridge, a deal which helped propel him into the Wall Street bank"s upper echelons. Dubin, now 62, retired from his latest fund, Engineers Gate, last month. He said this decision had nothing to do with reports of his connections to the Epstein scandal. Staley, now 63, went on to lead JP Morgan"s wealth and investment banking arms. His annual pay often ran into eight figures, hitting $16.7m (£12.8m) in 2007 alone. When Bob Diamond’s tenure at Barclays ended in ignominy in 2012, Epstein secretly campaigned in the City for Staley to be installed as his replacement, according to report in the Mail shortly before Staley did eventually take the reins at the bank three years later. Barclays denies that Epstein lobbied it on Staley’s behalf. Staley has said previously that he did not enlist Epstein’s support in bid to win the job. Incensed that Staley was overlooked in favour of Barclays insider Antony Jenkins, Epstein is reported to have claimed in emails that then-Chancellor George Osborne was blocking his acquaintance’s appointment. Osborne denies the claim. “That’s completely, 100pc untrue. I expressed no opinion on the new CEO or Jes Staley, who I like,” he says. Just how important was Epstein to Staley’s career? Was he a top 10 client at JP Morgan? Staley ducked the question on Thursday, saying: “I ran the private bank at JP Morgan and then I was asked to run the investment bank. Obviously I had relations with a lot of people in both of those capacities.” Staley insists the relationship tapered off after 2013, when he left JP Morgan and joined hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management. That was five years after his client’s conviction as in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. JP Morgan declined to comment. The bank severed ties with Epstein around the same time Staley left. The Barclays boss is reported to have visited Epstein in 2008 when the sex offender was serving time after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution. The two are said to have met at Epstein"s office in Florida, where the billionaire was allowed to work on weekdays during his sentence. Following a media furore over Epstein last year, Barclays issued a statement saying Staley has “never engaged or paid fees to Mr Epstein to advise him, or to provide professional services, either in his various roles at JP Morgan, or personally”. But one of the more extraordinary moments of Epstein and Staley’s relationship took place in 2014, after Staley says his ties to the paedophile had slackened. Epstein set about getting a banking licence in the Virgin Islands. In his application to the territory’s authorities, he listed Staley as a referee, the New York Times reported last week. A spokesman for Staley told the paper he was unaware his name had been included in Epstein’s list of references. Despite Epstein’s criminal conviction, he was granted a licence to set up a bank called Southern Country International. The bank gained notoriety when court documents revealed it received a $12m transfer from Epstein’s estate shortly after his death. A judge in the Virgin Islands last week said there was no explanation for the transaction. The long-running relationship raises awkward questions for Staley, who has been attempting to stabilise Barclays after a rocky decade since the financial crisis. Some details of the pair"s history were reported before Staley joined Barclays. But two former board members who were at the bank during Staley’s tenure claim they did not recall his relationship with Epstein ever being raised among board members. “I can’t recollect this ever being raised when I was there,” says one former board member. “We knew nothing,” agrees another, described Staley as "happily married” and a “very good guy”. “Just because he knew the guy doesn’t mean he ‘benefited’ from any of what [Epstein] got up to,” the former director adds. “I have huge respect for Jes. I hope he doesn’t go.” There is no suggestion that Staley was involved in any crime. Days after Epstein"s death, a disgusted Staley, whose last contact with the criminal came months after his 2015 island visit, told the Evening Standard: “Given what we now know, it’s the best thing that could have happened to him.” Assuming that Staley and Barclays are cleared of any wrongdoing by their regulators, the investigation is still likely to run for months and could become a major distraction. One person who attended the bank’s analyst presentation on Thursday says Staley emphasises that the watchdog’s investigation was “narrowly focused” on whether he had been open and transparent about his relationship with Epstein. Most of the focus had been on the bank’s performance and the numbers, the person adds. Still, the revelations are already bringing huge scrutiny on the bank and on Staley himself. On a Thursday morning media call, ostensibly called to discuss the bank’s financial results, every question to the chief executive focused on his relationship with Epstein. “Whilst we didn’t talk about it much on this call, the financial results were quite good in 2019,” Staley said. “We look forward to delivering profits and excess returns in 2020. The bank is in a very good place." The 328-year-old bank insists Staley retains the full confidence of its board. But if the furore does not subside, the question facing Barclays will be whether it would be in a better place without yacht-owner Staley at the helm.