‘Rogue trader’ Kweku Adoboli weeps in the dock over missing £1.3 billion

With an open-necked white shirt and sky blue sweatshirt, Kweku Adoboli, 31, stood accused of fraud and two charges of false accounting, one of which dated back to 2008.

He was remanded in custody until a committal hearing at the same court on September 22.

During the fifteen minute hearing, the well-built Ghanaian was handed a tissue from the clerk as he wiped a tear away.

The alleged rogue trader, son of a former Ghanaian official for the United Nations, joined the Swiss firm in a junior capacity in 2002.

He was arrested at his desk in a swoop by police in the early hours yesterday.

The alleged fraud offence took place between January 1 and September 14 this year, the court heard.

The fraud charge against him read: “While occupying a position, namely being a senior trader with Global Synthetic Equities, in which you were expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of UBS Bank, you dishonestly abused that position intending thereby to make a gain for yourself, causing losses to UBS or to expose UBS to risk of loss.”

Adoboli’s lawyer Louise Hodges, of solicitors Kingsley Napley, made no application for bail for her client, from Clark Street, Bethnal Green, east London.

After hearing from Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor David Levy, Chief Magistrate Carolyn Wagstaff told Adoboli: “You are remanded to appear back at this court on September 22 at 10am.”

A packed courtroom looked on as the defendant stared down at his feet while he was ushered back to his custody cell.

Adoboli worked as a director of exchange traded funds (ETF) and delta-1 trading at UBS Investment Bank.

ETFs are an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks, which hold assets such as stocks, commodities or bonds.

UBS, which has 6,000 staff in the UK, saw its shares slide 10% yesterday after it revealed the loss of £1.3 billion.

The loss could tip the bank into the red for the third quarter.

The stock was 3% higher today.

The disclosure heightened calls for greater regulation in the banking industry.

A Swiss newspaper today reported that UBS will cut jobs at its investment banking unit, with “massive” savings due to be announced on November 17.

The bank has already been hit by global growth fears and last month said it would reduce its overall headcount by 3,500 as part of a move to save two billion Swiss francs (£1.5 billion) by the end of 2013.

The two accusations of false accounting - that he “falsified a record, namely an exchange traded fund transaction” - occurred between 2008 and 2009 and between January and September this year.

The court clarified later that another committal appearance had been fixed for October 28.

Sue Patten, head of the CPS’s central fraud group, confirmed she had authorised City of London Police to charge him.

Adoboli was a pupil at Ackworth School, near Pontefract in West Yorkshire, until 1998. The school was founded in 1779 when it was initially set up to teach Quaker children.

He left for the University of Nottingham, where he graduated in e-commerce and digital business in 2003.

A Ghanaian, he was taken on by Swiss banking giant UBS in 2006 as a trainee investment adviser, according to the FSA register.

He lived in a £1,000 per week apartment in Brune Street, Shoreditch, London, until he moved out four months ago.

His father John Adoboli is a former United Nations staff officer, who lives in Tema, Ghana.

UBS, which has three keys in its logo symbolising “confidence, security and discretion”, has said no client funds were affected by the trading loss.