Troubled bank hit by fine

London: Beleaguered investment bank UBS has been hit with an £8-million (Dh48 million) fine after four rogue traders gambled cash belonging to 39 of its richest individual customers without permission.

City watchdog the Financial Services Authority dished out the penalty — its third highest fine ever — because the Swiss bank failed to spot the warning signs and stop the unnamed London-based employees from making the unauthorised trades.

The scandal was revealed by an internal whistleblower in 2007. The bank began its own internal investigation and informed the FSA in January 2008. The four traders — a desk head and three others — worked at UBS's wealth management division, which looks after the financial affairs of wealthy individuals.

They lost £25.5 million of clients' money, which UBS has since repaid to the 39 accounts, over a two-year period between January 2006 and December 2007. At the peak, there were as many as 50 unauthorised trades every day. The culprits have since been sacked.

UBS said it "deeply regrets" the incident, adding: "Having fully co- operated with the FSA's investigation we are now pleased that this matter has been settled so that we can move forward."

The troubled Swiss bank assured clients it has already taken "full remedial steps" to repair the system failings.