Lib Dems report Mandelson to City watchdog for insider trading

7 Feb 2026

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP has condemned “transfers of confidential material” by the disgraced ex-ambassador to paedophile Epstein as a potential financial crime.

The Liberal Democrats have reported Peter Mandelson to the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. The party’s deputy leader, Daisy Cooper MP, has said Mandelson must face criminal charges if he is found to have violated trading laws by sharing market sensitive information.

Her letter comes after a week of deeply damaging discoveries regarding the extent of Mandelson’s connection to, and correspondence with, the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, including evidence that he gave the financier prior warning of UK bail-outs of the Euro; sales of government assets; and confidential information including regarding the resignation of Gordon Brown.

In her letter to the Financial Conduct Authority’s CEO Nikhil Rathi, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson, said:

Dear Nikhil,

I am writing to urge you to investigate the leaking of information by Peter Mandelson to Jeffrey Epstein, transfers of confidential material which may have led to insider trading.

It is crucial that Mandelson is investigated to see if he or those he leaked information to profited from access to this market sensitive and confidential material. He and others must face criminal prosecution if they are found to have abused trading laws for financial benefit.

As you know, insider dealing is a serious criminal offence prosecuted by the FCA under the Criminal Justice Act 1993, with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. Under the UK Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR) and enforced by the FCA, "insider information" is non-public information that, if disclosed, would likely have a "significant" effect on prices in financial markets. Using such information to trade, or sharing it unlawfully, is considered a criminal offence or market abuse.

The files recently released relating to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice contain evidence of multiple instances of Mandelson disclosing such market-sensitive and confidential information. Mandelson allegedly forwarded a string of internal government communications to Epstein that were not in the public domain at the time. Of particular concern are the following instances:

On 9 May 2010, Mandelson provided Epstein with advance notice of a €500 billion bailout package to save the euro, hours before it was officially announced;
In June 2009, Mandelson reportedly forwarded a high-level Downing Street memo outlining £20 billion in proposed government asset sales. When Mr. Epstein queried which "salable assets" were involved, he received further details from an address linked to Mandelson;
In December 2009, Mandelson told Epstein about efforts to “amend" Treasury policy regarding the tax on bankers' bonuses, and advised Epstein to encourage J. P. Morgan’s CEO to ‘threaten’ the Treasury to further advance that lobbying effort, at a time when such regulatory shifts were highly sensitive for the financial services sector;
Mandelson provided a tip-off regarding the timing of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s resignation in May 2010. As you are aware, such political instability often triggers immediate volatility in sterling and government bonds.

The sharing of confidential information with a private financier could easily have provided an unfair and lucrative advantage in the financial markets, either by Epstein himself or by his associates. Mandelson could also have personally profited from this arrangement.

No individual, regardless of their standing or former office, should be permitted to compromise the integrity of the UK’s financial system by treating confidential state information as a private commodity. I therefore urge the FCA to launch an immediate investigation into whether Peter Mandelson’s actions constitute a criminal offence under insider trading laws, and whether any others

The victims who suffered such awful abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein deserve to know the full scope of the financier and his network’s crimes.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Daisy Cooper MP

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

First reported by the Guardian here