瑞
士银行（UBS AG）说，该行一位交易员未经上级批准私自动用银行自有资金进行交易，造成高达20亿美元的损失。瑞银这一具有戏剧性的坦白提出了一些新问题，即作为全球最大银行之一的瑞银能否管控风险？全球监管机构又是否有能力对其进行监管？
Sarah Ainslie
瑞士银行说，该行交易员阿杜伯利未经上级批准私自动用银行自有资金进行交易，造成高达20亿美元的损失。图为阿杜伯利。
瑞银在周三晚间发现了这一问题，并在周四凌晨1点通知伦敦警方，称该行一名交易员存在欺诈行为。周四凌晨3点30分，伦敦警方以涉嫌滥用职权构成欺诈逮捕了一名31岁的男子。
据知情人士透露，被逮捕的这名男子名叫阿杜伯利（Kweku Adoboli），是瑞银驻伦敦的一名交易员。此人动用瑞银的自有资金在与交易所买卖基金（ETF）相关的金融工具上押下赌注。这类金融工具允许客户交易追踪大盘指数走势的证券。警方说，被逮捕的这名男子还未被起诉，直到周四晚上仍被羁押。记者无法联系到阿杜伯利就此置评。
据知情人士透露，和阿杜伯利在一起工作的交易员约翰•休斯（John Hughes）已经辞职。休斯没有回复寻求置评的电子邮件。
相关报道
此次危机令瑞银股价大跌，周四欧洲股市交易时段瑞银股价跌幅接近11%。
更广泛地说，这一事件向业内高管提出了有关这家银行的监管工作以及监管机构是否有能力监督此类违规行为的问题。
这一事件的很多方面目前仍不清楚，其中包括阿杜伯利被控进行的交易具体是哪几宗？为什么发生了如此严重的损失而阿杜伯利的上级却一无所知？瑞银是如何发现这些未经授权的交易的？
瑞银拒绝了提供详情的要求。
瑞士金融业监管机构瑞士金融市场监督管理局(Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, 简称Finma)、瑞士财政部以及瑞士央行均拒绝对潜在损失或事件的可能原因置评。英国金融服务管理局（Financial Services Authority）也拒绝置评。
鉴于瑞银业务在英国的具体构建方式，目前尚不清楚哪一个国家的监管机构对瑞银在伦敦的这一ETF业务负有监管之责。
此次被控未经授权的交易所导致的损失金额，在金融史上可以排到前几名。在过去二十年中，法国兴业银行（Societe Generale SA）、霸菱银行（Barings PLC）以及美国券商Kidder Peabody也都曾是类似违规交易的受害者。
这条消息对瑞银首席执行长格鲁贝尔(Oswald Grubel)挽回客户信心的努力来说是一记重创。瑞银是受金融危机冲击最严重的银行之一，三年前，其投资银行部门不得不将其证券交易减记约500亿美元。现在，它的风险管理体系再次受到人们的怀疑。
LinkedIn网站上“奎库•阿杜伯利”名下的资料显示，五年以来，阿杜伯利一直是在一个买卖大型证券组合、或允许客户通过期权等工具对这些证券下注的交易室工作。
知情人士说，他利用瑞银的资金买卖衍生品合约，合约所基于的证券包含在ETF内。
他所在的交易室专攻“Delta 1”类产品。银行和投资者可以利用这类产品跟踪基础资产或指数。“Delta”术语反映的是风险水平，“Delta 1”意味着亏损风险有限。银行提供的“Delta 1”产品有五六种，其中包括ETF产品。
熟悉瑞银这个交易室的交易员说，亏损达到如此大的规模，很可能是跟瑞士法郎近几个星期的剧烈波动有关。9月6日，瑞士央行(Swiss National Bank)说要通过购进欧元来阻止瑞郎的急剧升值。受此消息影响，欧元对瑞郎上涨了8.8%。
ETF一般是跟踪市场指数，并像股票一样买卖，它已经成为银行业的一块重要业务。国际清算银行(Bank for International Settlements)的数据显示，全球管理的ETF资产已从2005年的4,100亿美元增至去年的1.3万亿美元。
一些ETF已经越来越复杂难懂，因为银行已经找到了利用ETF建立衍生品式敞口的办法。
LinkedIn资料显示，在做交易员之前，阿杜伯利作为一名辅助交易的分析师在一个“后端”职位上工作了三年。“后端”员工录入交易并执行与交易相关的会计工作，而所谓的“前端”员工则负责执行交易、与客户沟通。
阿杜伯利最初似乎是做这些交易的技术性工作，后来才成为一名执行这些交易的员工。一些银行已经对后端技术人员转做面对客户的交易室工作实施了限制，因为这些员工有可能利用他们的知识操纵交易。
瑞银没有就它是否有这样一个限制的问题发表评论。
Deborah Ball / Paul Sonne / Carrick Mollenkamp
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
UBS AG said a rogue trader racked up as much as $2 billion in losses using the firm's own money, a dramatic admission that raised new questions about the ability of one of the world's largest banks to manage risk and global regulators' ability to monitor it.
The losses stemmed from unauthorized derivatives-trading bets, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank said no client positions were affected.
The Swiss bank made the discovery late Wednesday and notified London police at 1 a.m. Thursday, alleging that one of its traders had committed fraud. At 3:30 a.m., police arrested a 31-year-old man on 'suspicion of fraud by abuse of position.'
The man arrested is Kweku Adoboli, according to the person familiar with the matter, and is a trader in London who makes bets using UBS's money on financial instruments tied to exchange-traded funds, which allow clients to trade securities that track the performance of broad indexes. Police said the person arrested hasn't been charged, but remained in custody late Thursday. Mr. Adoboli couldn't be reached for comment.
According to the person familiar with the matter, John Hughes, a trader who worked with Mr. Adoboli, has resigned. Mr. Hughes didn't respond to an emailed request for comment.
The bank has suspended a number of other members of the desk, pending questioning as to whether any were involved.
The crisis slammed shares of UBS, which fell nearly 11% in European trading Thursday.
More broadly, it raised questions among industry executives about supervision at the bank, as well as the ability of regulators to police such activity.
Various aspects of the scheme remain unclear, including which specific trades Mr. Adoboli allegedly executed, how such heavy losses could be generated without supervisors knowing and the way the bank uncovered the unauthorized trades.
UBS declined requests to provide details.
The Swiss financial regulator Finma, the Swiss Finance Ministry and the Swiss central bank all declined to comment on the potential loss or its likely causes, as did the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority.
Because of the way UBS's operations are structured in the U.K., it wasn't immediately clear which country's regulator was responsible for the London ETF operation.
The losses from alleged unauthorized trading rank among the largest in the history of finance. Over the past two decades, banks including Société Générale SA, Barings PLC and Kidder Peabody also have been victims of alleged rogue traders.
The news dealt a heavy blow to efforts by UBS Chief Executive Oswald Grübel to win back client confidence in a bank that was among the hardest hit by the financial crisis. It raised fresh questions about UBS's risk-management systems three years after its investment bank had to write down about $50 billion in securities trades.
For five years, Mr. Adoboli has worked on a desk that trades large baskets of securities or allows clients to bet on them through options or other instruments, according to a LinkedIn profile under the name Kweku Adoboli.
He traded derivative contracts, using the bank's money, based on securities included in ETFs, according to people familiar with the matter.
His desk specialized in so-called Delta One products that allow banks and investors to track underlying assets or indexes. The 'delta' terms describe a level of risk─a delta of one implies limited risk of losses. There are about a half-dozen Delta One products that banks offer, including ETFs.
Traders familiar with the UBS desk say the loss was of such a magnitude that it may well have been tied to sharp moves in the Swiss franc in recent weeks. On Sept. 6, the Swiss National Bank said it would buy euros to stop the franc's sharp rise. On the news, the euro rose 8.8% against the franc.
ETFs, which typically track market indexes and trade like stocks, have become a big business for banks. Global ETF assets under management rose to $1.3 trillion last year from $410 billion in 2005, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
Some ETFs have become increasingly complex and opaque because banks have identified ways to replicate derivative exposure using ETFs.
Before trading, Mr. Adoboli worked for three years in a 'back office' position as a trade-support analyst, according to the LinkedIn profile. Back-office employees input transactions and carry out accounting relating to trades, while so-called front-office workers execute trades and speak with clients.
Mr. Adoboli appeared to have initially worked with the technical side of these trades before becoming an employee executing these transactions. Some banks have restricted the shift of back-office, technical personnel to the client-facing trading desk because of the risk of their exploiting their knowledge to manipulate trades.
UBS didn't respond to a request for comment on whether it had such a restriction.
Deborah Ball / Paul Sonne / Carrick Mollenkamp
本文涉及股票或公司
The losses stemmed from unauthorized derivatives-trading bets, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank said no client positions were affected.
The Swiss bank made the discovery late Wednesday and notified London police at 1 a.m. Thursday, alleging that one of its traders had committed fraud. At 3:30 a.m., police arrested a 31-year-old man on 'suspicion of fraud by abuse of position.'
The man arrested is Kweku Adoboli, according to the person familiar with the matter, and is a trader in London who makes bets using UBS's money on financial instruments tied to exchange-traded funds, which allow clients to trade securities that track the performance of broad indexes. Police said the person arrested hasn't been charged, but remained in custody late Thursday. Mr. Adoboli couldn't be reached for comment.
According to the person familiar with the matter, John Hughes, a trader who worked with Mr. Adoboli, has resigned. Mr. Hughes didn't respond to an emailed request for comment.
The bank has suspended a number of other members of the desk, pending questioning as to whether any were involved.
The crisis slammed shares of UBS, which fell nearly 11% in European trading Thursday.
More broadly, it raised questions among industry executives about supervision at the bank, as well as the ability of regulators to police such activity.
Various aspects of the scheme remain unclear, including which specific trades Mr. Adoboli allegedly executed, how such heavy losses could be generated without supervisors knowing and the way the bank uncovered the unauthorized trades.
UBS declined requests to provide details.
The Swiss financial regulator Finma, the Swiss Finance Ministry and the Swiss central bank all declined to comment on the potential loss or its likely causes, as did the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority.
Because of the way UBS's operations are structured in the U.K., it wasn't immediately clear which country's regulator was responsible for the London ETF operation.
The losses from alleged unauthorized trading rank among the largest in the history of finance. Over the past two decades, banks including Société Générale SA, Barings PLC and Kidder Peabody also have been victims of alleged rogue traders.
The news dealt a heavy blow to efforts by UBS Chief Executive Oswald Grübel to win back client confidence in a bank that was among the hardest hit by the financial crisis. It raised fresh questions about UBS's risk-management systems three years after its investment bank had to write down about $50 billion in securities trades.
For five years, Mr. Adoboli has worked on a desk that trades large baskets of securities or allows clients to bet on them through options or other instruments, according to a LinkedIn profile under the name Kweku Adoboli.
He traded derivative contracts, using the bank's money, based on securities included in ETFs, according to people familiar with the matter.
His desk specialized in so-called Delta One products that allow banks and investors to track underlying assets or indexes. The 'delta' terms describe a level of risk─a delta of one implies limited risk of losses. There are about a half-dozen Delta One products that banks offer, including ETFs.
Traders familiar with the UBS desk say the loss was of such a magnitude that it may well have been tied to sharp moves in the Swiss franc in recent weeks. On Sept. 6, the Swiss National Bank said it would buy euros to stop the franc's sharp rise. On the news, the euro rose 8.8% against the franc.
ETFs, which typically track market indexes and trade like stocks, have become a big business for banks. Global ETF assets under management rose to $1.3 trillion last year from $410 billion in 2005, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
Some ETFs have become increasingly complex and opaque because banks have identified ways to replicate derivative exposure using ETFs.
Before trading, Mr. Adoboli worked for three years in a 'back office' position as a trade-support analyst, according to the LinkedIn profile. Back-office employees input transactions and carry out accounting relating to trades, while so-called front-office workers execute trades and speak with clients.
Mr. Adoboli appeared to have initially worked with the technical side of these trades before becoming an employee executing these transactions. Some banks have restricted the shift of back-office, technical personnel to the client-facing trading desk because of the risk of their exploiting their knowledge to manipulate trades.
UBS didn't respond to a request for comment on whether it had such a restriction.
Deborah Ball / Paul Sonne / Carrick Mollenkamp
本文涉及股票或公司
没有评论:
发表评论