Top Firm Has More Trader Trouble

Another London-based Morgan Stanley 'rogue' trader is in the news this week (the third in the last two weeks), after being banned by UK market regulator The Financial Services Authority (FSA) for front-running (trading ahead of) client orders. The trader, Nilesh Shroff, was also fined $224,000.

Some two weeks ago, the FSA banned former Morgan Stanley trader Matthew Piper for life, after he was found to have been mis-marking his book to hide losses (Morgan Stanley took a $120m writedown over the affair). And last week, ex-firm trader David Redmond got slapped with a 2-year ban after returning to the office following a long boozy lunch and concealing his trading position overnight.

In all instances Morgan Stanley cooperated with the regulator, and the firm's internal control procedures were responsible for detecting the rogue trading.

Finally, The Sun reports that 41-year old former Barclays 'trader' Martin Waith has been sentenced to 9 months in prison, after forging his second wife's signature on a document and re-mortgaging her home to the tune of $130,000 (We actually think that he was an IT guy). The illegal transaction is said to have taken place just two months after the couple got married.

Waith, who is said to have been earning almost $200,000-a-year, later confessed to the crime in a 'suicide' note. He is said to have been living well beyond his means. The former banker, who spent a month recovering in a psychiatric hospital, later worked for a gardening company and as a mental health counsellor.