Adoboli’s rogue trading highlights significant failings at UBS
Kweku Adoboli’s fraudulent activity at UBS, which caused a loss of $2.3 billion, went undetected because of serious weaknesses in systems and controls. UBS says it has remedied the faults, but can the industry as a whole ever prevent rogue trading? By Miranda Alexander-Webber
Three years passed before rogue trader Kweku Adoboli's unauthorised trading was detected at UBS. The UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) blamed this on "significant failings" and "serious weaknesses" in systems and controls. It fined UBS £29.7 million as a result.
Many of the failings at UBS can be explained by a silo approach to compliance. Warning signs such as the exceeding of risk limits or considerable increases in profit were not investigated alongside each other. But UBS had other
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