Ex-UBS Trader Changes Legal Teams for REIT Fraud Case

December 22, 2011, 5:00AM. By Charles Benson

London, EnglandFormer UBS employee Kweku Adoboli has switched legal teams prior to his court appearance next week, as the trader is heading to trial over a REIT fraud claim, according to Reuters.

The news source reported that the London law firm now representing Adoboli recently announced they were defending the trader, who is accused of unauthorized dealings which UBS claims cost it $2.3 billion.

The previous counsel for Adoboli confirmed that it was no longer working on the case, but did not speak as to why their legal relationship came to an end.

According to Reuters, Adoboli faces two charges of fraud and two more for false accounting in a case that has affected the investment banking world after the losses were reported in September.

The former trader has yet to enter a plea, but is expected to do so before December 20, the date that he is due to enter court. The news source reported that he was remanded in custody again following his previous court appearance in November.

The British-educated son of a retired United Nations official from Ghana, Adoboli worked as a director of exchange traded funds at the Swiss-based UBS. At an earlier hearing for the trial, the former trader was noted to have said he was "sorry beyond words for what had happened," according to his counsel.

According to Reuters, the rogue trading losses that were exposed at UBS this year have acted as a significant blow to the bank, which had been trying to bolster its investment banking franchise. The company's CEO resigned after the scandal was brought to the attention of the public.

The New York Times reported that Adoboli expressed concern over the firing of several senior managers at UBS, following the release of the news of the massive trading loss for the firm. His lawyer explained that "he stands now appalled at the scale of the consequences of his disastrous miscalculations."