UBS trader banned for life from working in the City

Kweku Adoboli, the convicted former UBS trader, has been formally banned from working in the financial services industry.

He was jailed for seven years in 2012 for fraud.

The Financial Conduct Authority said it had banned Adoboli, who was released from prison earlier this year.

His actions resulted in losses of £1.4bn for the Swiss bank, the FCA said.

UBS was fined £29.7m for systems and control failures related to the unauthorised trading losses.

Adoboli, 35, said the ban marked the end of a difficult chapter in his life.

"I fully recognise the reasons for my prohibition and thank the FCA for their restraint. My hope now is to move forward in a positive way to help others learn from the mistakes I've made," he said.

Adoboli's solicitor, Sara George of law firm Stephenson Harwood, said he wanted to repay his debt to society by using his own experience to explain how risk management controls might be avoided.

He was arrested in September 2011 and was held in custody for nine months until his trial.

After serving almost half of his sentence for two counts of fraud, Adoboli was released from Maidstone prison in June.

During his trial at Southwark Crown Court, he told the jury that UBS staff were encouraged to take risks until they got "a slap on the back of the wrist" by senior managers.

Tracey McDermott of the FCA's predecessor, the Financial Services Authority, said in 2012 that the bank's faulty controls had allowed Adoboli's losses to mount to what was the largest trading loss in the UK.

"UBS's systems and controls were seriously defective," she said.

Deportation fight

"As a result, Adoboli, a relatively junior trader, was allowed to take vast and risky market positions, and UBS failed to manage the risks around that properly."

He is facing deportation to his native Ghana after an immigration tribunal this week ruled that he should be removed from the UK.

Adoboli, the son of a UN diplomat who was educated at a Yorkshire boarding school, said he would appeal against the "heartbreaking" decision.

Foreign nationals who have been sentenced to more than a year in jail should be considered for deportation under Home Office rules.