UBS, the Swiss bank, has been fined £8m for system and control failures that enabled four London-based staff to use customers' money to trade in precious metals and currencies.
UBS fined £8m by FSA for failures that let traders gamble with customers' money Photo: REUTERS
The Financial Services Authority said the four worked at the bank's wealth management business and used money from up to 39 accounts to make as many as 50 trades a day.
The fine is the third largest the financial regulator has ever imposed. (AtW's comment: £8 mln is 3rd largest, how big is #1 - £10 mln?
)
The dealing took place over nearly two years - January 2006 to December 2007 - and was only uncovered when a whistleblower at the bank raised concerns.
A UBS investigation discovered that the four were trading in foreign exchange and precious metals using customers' money without authorisation and had allocated losses to customers' accounts.
The bank has since paid more than $42m (£25m) in compensation to cover customers' losses.
Margaret Cole, FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "The penalty reflects our tougher enforcement stance and our policy of imposing steep penalties to achieve credible deterrence.
"These employees were able to take advantage of UBS' inadequate systems and controls, giving them free rein to make unauthorised trades with customer money that they were then able to conceal."
UBS could have been fined £10m (AtW's comment:
) but it was given a 20pc discount because it agreed to settle at an early stage in the investigation.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...ers-money.html
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Q: What's the difference between these rogue traders who gambled with customers' money and the other traders?
A: ?
UBS fined £8m by FSA for failures that let traders gamble with customers' money Photo: REUTERS
The Financial Services Authority said the four worked at the bank's wealth management business and used money from up to 39 accounts to make as many as 50 trades a day.
The fine is the third largest the financial regulator has ever imposed. (AtW's comment: £8 mln is 3rd largest, how big is #1 - £10 mln?
)The dealing took place over nearly two years - January 2006 to December 2007 - and was only uncovered when a whistleblower at the bank raised concerns.
A UBS investigation discovered that the four were trading in foreign exchange and precious metals using customers' money without authorisation and had allocated losses to customers' accounts.
The bank has since paid more than $42m (£25m) in compensation to cover customers' losses.
Margaret Cole, FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "The penalty reflects our tougher enforcement stance and our policy of imposing steep penalties to achieve credible deterrence.
"These employees were able to take advantage of UBS' inadequate systems and controls, giving them free rein to make unauthorised trades with customer money that they were then able to conceal."
UBS could have been fined £10m (AtW's comment:
) but it was given a 20pc discount because it agreed to settle at an early stage in the investigation.Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...ers-money.html
-------
Q: What's the difference between these rogue traders who gambled with customers' money and the other traders?
A: ?
Comment