£1.4bn rogue trader: It could happen again

A CONVICTED fraudster who lost Swiss bank UBS £1.4billion has said other rogue traders could still follow in his footsteps because of the massive pressure to make a profit.

Kweku Adoboli was sentenced to seven years behind bars in 2012 after making unauthorised trades at UBS. He was released last year.

He was described by prosecutors as a ‘sophisticated liar’ and ‘master fraudster’ and now faces being deported to his native Ghana. The 36-year-old claimed that colleagues knew about his actions and he was under huge pressure to make a profit.

UBS has always denied anyone else was involved and he was the only one charged over the UK’s biggest ever unauthorised trading loss.

But speaking to the BBC, he said: ‘Former colleagues I have spoken to are still struggling with the same issues, the same conflicts, the same pressures to achieve no matter what.

‘And this goes back to the structure of the industry. People are required to take risk to generate profit because yields in the industry are consistently compressed.’

Adoboli, the son of a senior UN official, is living with friends in Edinburgh and speaks for free at banking conferences.