Bittar wins identity challenge against UK watchdog

Former Deutsche Bank star trader Christian Bittar on Tuesday won a legal challenge against Britain’s financial regulator over whether he was improperly identified when the bank was fined as part of a global rate rigging inquiry.

Bittar is one of eight traders who allege they were denied a right of reply when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined a string of banks as part of investigations that spanned alleged benchmark interest rate and currency market manipulation.

The ruling by a London tribunal is an embarrassment for the FCA, set up two years ago after its predecessor was criticised for its handling of the 2007-9 financial crisis. It could also limit how much detail the FCA can publish when it fines firms.

In May, the FCA lost a similar Court of Appeal ruling that decided a former JPMorgan executive, Achilles Macris, had been improperly identified, despite not being named when the FCA fined the US bank almost £140 million ($212 million) in 2013.

The FCA said on Tuesday it was focusing on plans to appeal that decision at the Supreme Court, as the Bittar case relied heavily on that judgement. (RTRS)