Lobbying firm co-founded by former UK ambassador Mandelson stops trading over Epstein fallout

LONDON (AP) — The lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, a former U.K. ambassador to the United States, collapsed into a form of bankruptcy Friday in the wake of the scandal surrounding his links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Global Counsel said it had stopped trading and roughly 80 U.K.-based staff were being laid off after many customers cut ties with the company following revelations about the scale of Mandelson's friendship with the disgraced financier, who died in a New York prison in 2019. The company has around 130 employees worldwide.

Mandelson, who jointly set up Global Counsel in 2010 after the Labour Party was ejected from power, resigned from its board in 2024 and sold his shares in it earlier this month in an apparent attempt to insulate the company from the scandal engulfing him.

Administrators at consulting firm Interpath have been appointed to consider options for the business and to review its assets.

“While Global Counsel had grown over the past 15 years to become one of the U.K.’s leading public affairs consultancies, the rapid and sudden loss of clients over recent weeks has had a monumental impact on the business," said Will Wright, U.K. chief executive of Interpath and joint administrator.

Within the millions of pages of files related to Epstein that were released by the U.S. Justice Department, emails indicated that Mandelson passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to his self-proclaimed “best pal” in 2009, when he was a leading member of the then-Labour government.

They also included records of payments totaling $75,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has questioned the authenticity of the bank statements. In a letter to Labour in resigning from the party, Mandelson said he had no recollection of receiving that money and would investigate.

Following the release of the Epstein-related documents, police searched Mandelson’s London home and another property linked to him.

The U.K. police investigation into Mandelson centers on potential misconduct in public office, and Mandelson is not accused of any sexual offenses. On Thursday, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on the same suspicion but related to his years as a trade envoy for the U.K.

The appointment of Mandelson to the plum diplomatic job nearly cost British Prime Minister Keir Starmer his job as questions swirled around his judgment. Mandelson's decades-long career has been clouded with controversy and included two resignations from Tony Blair's governments at the turn of the century.

Barely nine months after the appointment, Starmer fired Mandelson in September after an earlier batch of emails was published showing he had remained friends with Epstein even after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.

The government plans to release files related to the vetting process that it hopes will exonerate Starmer and show Mandelson lied.

Peter Mandelson leaving his home in Wiltshire, England, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

Peter Mandelson leaving his home in Wiltshire, England, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

A person leaves the home of Peter Mandelson in north west London, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 as British police are searching two properties linked to ex-ambassador Peter Mandelson as part of probe into potential misconduct stemming from his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.(AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

FILE - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, file)

British Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson speaks during the rededication ceremony of the George Washington Statue in the National Gallery in London, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

FILE - Britain's Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, speaks during a reception at the ambassador's residence on Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, File)

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Four years ago, after a convoluted medal dispute with race officials, freeskiers Daniela Maier and Fanny Smith both ended up the proud recipients of Olympic bronze medals.

Fast forward to Friday, and they were celebrating together from the top two spots on the podium after Maier won the women's skicross final right ahead Smith at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Friends and rivals, the two were at the center of a judging controversy during the 2022 skicross final in Beijing when Smith crossed the finish line third, ahead of Maier in fourth.

But the race jury flipped that result after deciding that Smith had interfered with Maier, despite protests both from Smith and Maier herself. Smith had to appeal the jury’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which eventually overruled the officials’ decision and deemed that bronze medals should be awarded to both skiers. Smith got her bronze a year later back in Switzerland.

Reflecting on the ordeal after Friday's medal ceremony, Maier said that she had supported Smith in that dispute, which ultimately drew them closer together.

“It’s so nice because yeah this story made us a good team,” Maier said. “And we (came) together and (became) good friends, we like to train with each other. So yeah, that we are both at the podium again is just a good story.”

The 2022 bronze medal dispute had led Smith to feel she had completely lost her “trust” in the freeski officials, she said before these Games.

Yet with the silver medal now around her neck, Smith said that she had moved on.

“It’s like a story which is behind me,” Smith said. “So today it’s just something that we could have really show an amazing and nice final. I think that’s what we need to keep.”

Maier, competing in her second Olympics, took an early lead in the four-woman race and protected her racing line to the bottom of the course in Livigno. She added her gold to a bronze from 2022.

“It’s crazy. I’m really speechless and overwhelmed and I think I need a few days to realize that I have a gold medal,” Maier said after the 29-year-old German reached the pinnacle of her career.

Smith, 33, added her silver to two bronzes from the past two Games.

Smith’s three medals in women’s skicross is an Olympic record. Marielle Thompson of Canada has two career medals — gold in 2014 and silver in 2022 — but was knocked out of Friday’s quarterfinals.

“It’s been like a crazy journey,” Smith said. “I know today was my fifth Olympic Games, my third Olympic medal. Yeah, (I'm the) only one in skicross (with three medals). I’m so proud about that, to just be so consistent.”

Defending champion Sandra Naeslund of Sweden collected the bronze after she had a slow start behind Maier and then let Smith pass her midway down the course of banks, rollers and jumps.

The final featured the top four women in the World Cup skicross points standings this season. Marielle Berger Sabbatel of France finished fourth.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

From left, silver medalist Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1), and bronze medalist Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2) celebrate after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), left, and Germany's Daniela Maier (1) embrace after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

From left, Germany's Daniela Maier (1), Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2) and Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3) compete during the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

From left, Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2), Germany's Daniela Maier (1) and Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3) compete during the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1) celebrates after competing in the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Silver medalist Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), left, and gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1) embrace after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)