the dude at the center of UBS' colossal loss of $2 billion is looks more like one of the condemned killers seeking clemency than a stock market whiz kid who lost a pile of scratch.
it's probably not a coincidence that the banks and the authorities are rushing to charge him with fraud and push blame off on some poor fuck who probably just got in over his head and blew the firm's wad on a terrible bet.
in other words, he's the fall guy. of course, the story from the watchdogs of the press makes it sound like the situation is under control:
BBC News - UBS trader Kweku Adoboli charged with fraud: "Kweku Adoboli, the UBS trader alleged to have lost UBS $2bn (£1.3bn) in unauthorised trading, has appeared in court in London charged with fraud and false accounting.that photo kills me: everyone's smiling. this guy just fucked up an almost incomprehensible amount of money but it's all grins all around.
He has been remanded in custody until a committal hearing on 22 September.
According to the charges, the fraud took place between January and September this year.
UBS is expected to provide more details of Mr Adoboli's trading by Monday morning."
matt taibbi at rolling stone had it about right: if this guy was one of the company's execs who'd pissed away a fortune, we wouldn't be talking fraud and nobody would be talking punishment. instead, it'd be bailouts and bonuses all around, with the taxpayers and honest investors on the hook for the losses.
the chit-chat in the financial press is that the banks are scrambling already trying to dull the effects of regulation imposed after the 2008 financial collapse (and continuing depression here on main street, for those guys who haven't noticed), and now this comes along. it will complicate their task.
the bottom line, however, is that their fuck-ups never affect the banks bottom lines! somehow they've managed to bulk up until they're too big to destroy -- so they'll end up killing us instead.
like kweku adoboli wrote on his facebook page, we need a miracle!
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