Rogue trader loses billions

What?

What has happened? Swiss bank UBS is in a lot of trouble after it was found that one of its workers lost US$2.3 billion.

What is a rogue trader? A rogue trader is a stock trader who makes trades for his employer (in this case UBS) he is not allowed to make.

What is an ETF? Exchange Traded Funds is what the trader used to make trades. They are funds which track an index, rather than stocks.

Who?

Who are the main players? UBS is a Swiss banking giant that has been battered by the financial crisis and a fight with the US over tax evasion. Just as the bank was setting its house in order, disaster struck.

Who is the rogue trader? Kweku Adoboli is a British citizen who was born in Ghana. He was arrested on his 31st birthday for rogue trading. He was head boy of his school, Ackworth School. He graduated from the University of Nottingham, where he studied computer science and management.

When?

When did he start rogue trading? He has been charged with false accounting going back to 2008.

Where?

Where are UBS's investors? UBS is a world-wide bank, so investors all over the world are very interested in the case's outcome.

Why?

Why is this such bad news for UBS? Bankers have been getting a lot of the blame for the current financial crisis. People wonder how this could have gone on so long without someone finding out. The incident has shown that there is a gap in the law that allows traders to get around new laws which were supposed to keep better watch on them.

How?

How was Adoboli found out? He told his bosses at the bank and then told the police and the Financial Services Authority.