Ex-UBS trader denies fraud charges

The former UBS trader accused of unauthorised deals has pleaded not guilty to all four charges of fraud and false accounting in a London court.

The 31-year-old man, whose actions the Swiss bank says cost it some $2.3 billion (SFr2.1 billion), faces two charges of fraud and two of false accounting in a case that has shaken the investment banking world.

The British-educated son of a retired United Nations official from Ghana worked as a director of exchange traded funds at UBS.

The man, who faces a maximum ten-year jail sentence if found guilty, spoke only to confirm his name and reply “not guilty” to all the charges when they were read out to him at a packed Southwark Crown Court . 

Judge Alistair McCreath remanded him in custody and set the start of the trial for September 3. 

“An earlier trial would be simply not possible,” he said. 

At a previous hearing, his lawyer had said the accused was “sorry beyond words for what had happened”. 

The scandal cost former UBS CEO Oswald Grübel his job.

In a statement after Monday’s hearing, UBS said in a statement: “With active criminal proceedings, English criminal law limits what we can say about this incident, therefore UBS will not be commenting.”