UBS ‘rogue trader’ remanded in custody
City trader Kewku Adoboli who allegedly cost UBS £1.5bn through unauthorised trading has been remanded in custody following his second court appearance.
Dressed in a smart grey suit and navy blue tie, Mr Adoboli appeared composed in the packed court. The 31-year-old Ghanaian took a deep breath before confirming his name and address.
The Nottingham University graduate will now face a second count of fraud as well as two of false accounting. The charge sheet reads: “While occupying a position, namely being a senior trader with Global Synthetic Equities…you dishonestly abused that position.” The fraud is alleged to have taken place between October 2008 and December 2010 and between January and September of this year. Mr Adoboli allegedly falsified records of Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) transactions between October 2008 and December 2009 and then again between January 2010 and September 2011. ETFs are investment funds traded on stock exchanges.
Mr Adoboli nodded seriously as the chief magistrate, Alison Gowman, told him that he would remain in custody until his committal hearing on October 28th, he then turned and nodded to his friends in the public gallery before being led away. He gave no indication of how he will plead.
City of London Police arrested the trader a week ago after UBS alerted them at 1am. He has been in custody ever since and has made no application for bail.
Mr Adoboli, the son of a former UN official, joined UBS in a junior role in 2002, rising to become a senior trader. The Financial Services Authority and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority are investigating the trading losses.
UBS had already announced 3,500 jobs are to be cut across the group. Staff at the bank are waiting to hear how the losses will affect their bonuses.