Police Investigate $150m Rogue Trade

City of London police are investigating an attempted $150m trading fraud at asset manager Threadneedle.

The alleged trade was discovered by Threadneedle’s internal company controls and blocked before any client money could be lost. A junior trader has been dismissed, and it is believed that the trade was linked to Argentine warrants – which pay holders when economic growth exceeds government projections.

“In August 2011, our systems stopped a suspicious attempted trade. The matter was immediately reported to the authorities and the individual involved was subsequently dismissed,” Threadneedle said in a statement.

Threadneedle is the London-based subsidiary of U.S. financial services group Ameriprise, managing assets of approximately £60bn, and the incident is the latest in a series of alleged rogue trades that has shaken the City – including the arrest last year of former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli, who is accused of causing “unauthorised” trading losses of $2bn.

Adoboli, who denies charges of fraud and false accounting, is expected to face trial later this year, and, if convicted, he would be guilty of the largest rogue trade ever discovered in the City of London’s history.