UBS trader alerted bank

Chips are down for casino banking

The banks keep telling us that they have "robust" measures in place to prevent unauthorised trading. Yet one trader felt it necessary to alert his employers, this time Swiss bank UBS, that he'd overdone it on the trading. By a whopping $2 billion! Maybe he pressed the wrong buttons one day. But his employers, upstanding characters that they are, promptly alerted the Financial Services Authority and the City of London Police. An investigation will now take place. Into their failed systems hopefully.

But surely these whistle and bells systems that the banks have should work every time? What is it that they don't know or want to know? I think the chief bottlewashers at UBS should pay a visit to Las Vegas and see how the real gamblers make sure things don't go wrong in their casinos. Vince Cable was always talking of casino banks when in opposition. Now he's in government, he should implement the new banking reform proposals PDQ!

Oh, and get that Angela Knight in and tell her that the banks need to get a grip on things. Robert Peston alluded to the truth. These traders are as clever as the computers but the bank bosses are not nearly so wired up. But I don't like the idea of the bank bosses trying to blame the traders every time. Let the UBS high command take a long look at themselves in the mirror of truth and ask whether they know the meaning of ROBUST.


Postscript - I'm curious to know why Bob Diamond pops up so much in a Google search on "casino banker". His image is well represented in the search results!

Posted in: banks,casinos,city bank traders,rogue traders