Former UBS trader says bank ‘mandated’ conduct that led to ban his from industry

Bloomberg

An ex-UBS Group AG trader banned from the finance industry over allegations that he manipulated Libor rates told a London court that his actions were “mandated” and “sanctioned”
by the bank.
Arif Hussein, a former head of UBS’s sterling rates desk, is challenging a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority to ban him at a London court hearing on Tuesday. His lawyer said in court documents that his actions were “not only permissible but mandated, sanctioned by the words and conduct of his senior managers.”
“Hussein, a very junior trader, has been penalised by the FCA when other, more senior bankers, with an involvement and responsibility for setting up the structures and regime which Hussein was mandated to follow, have been allowed to walk away,” his lawyer, Sara George, said in a statement. “Hussein’s actions, from which he derived no personal benefit at all, were simply routine, in accordance with his employer’s policies and procedures.”
The FCA has handed out hundreds of millions of pounds in fines — including a 160 million-pound ($217 million) penalty for UBS — over the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, a key benchmark tied to the value of many financial products. Traders caught up in the scandal have tried, with varying degrees of success, to use their inexperience as a defense in proceedings in criminal and civil courts as well as employment tribunals.
The FCA said in its own court papers that Hussein “knowingly participated in conduct intended to improperly influence UBS’s GBP Libor submissions.” Regulators said that the case against Hussein is “even stronger” now than it was when the agency first decided to ban him in 2016.
UBS declined to comment on the case. The FCA says Hussein tried to influence interest-rate benchmark submissions 21 times between January and March 2009 to benefit his trading positions. Global fines related to Libor, a benchmark interest rate used in trillions of dollars of derivatives and loans, have reached about $9 billion and more than 20 traders have been charged.