Ex-Deutsche Bank Trader Said to Sue U.K. FCA in Identity Spat 

Joerg Vogt, a former trading executive at Deutsche Bank AG, sued the U.K. financial regulator for indirectly identifying him in its Libor settlement with the bank, a person with knowledge of the case said.

Vogt, the bank’s former director of euro trading, filed a claim against the Financial Conduct Authority on May 22, according to court records. He said the FCA gave enough details about him in a report accompanying its 227 million-pound ($351 million) settlement with Deutsche Bank that he could be identified, said the person, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public.

Vogt’s claim is the latest in a wave of suits from traders over improper identification in bank penalty notices. The agency lost a landmark appeal on the issue last month when a judge found it failed to properly anonymize Achilles Macris, the former JPMorgan Chase & Co. manager of the London Whale trader, in a settlement report.

One motivation for traders to challenge the FCA on identification is to obtain documents about the regulator’s case that could help them if they’re also under investigation, according to London lawyer Michael Potts.

“There are a number of tactical reasons why a challenge over identification may be made, but disclosure is a key one, said Potts. Some people may also ‘‘simply want to put the FCA under pressure.’’

Moryoussef Filings

Philippe Moryoussef, a former Barclays Plc trader caught-up in the London interbank offered rate probe, also filed two claims against the FCA in May, the court register shows. Details of his cases aren’t available.

Lawyers for Vogt and Moryoussef, as well as an FCA spokeswoman, declined to comment.

If a person is identified in an FCA penalty notice, they must be given the chance to respond before findings are published. The regulator often uses monikers such as ‘‘trader A’’ to refer to individuals to avoid having to go through the process and slow investigations down.

Christian Bittar, a former Deutsche Bank trader, also filed a claim against the FCA in May on this issue. Bittar and Moryoussef were both investigated by global authorities for colluding to influence Euribor, the euro counterpart of Libor. The pair haven’t publicly been accused of any wrongdoing and neither has been charged.

Richard Usher, JPMorgan’s former chief currency dealer in London, and Rohan Ramchandani, Citigroup Inc.’s former head of G-10 spot currency trading, both have outstanding cases over identification in FCA settlements for currency-market manipulation published last year.

The FCA may change how it reports settlements or be forced to take longer over cases as a result of the Macris ruling, Jamie Symington, the FCA’s director of investigations, said at a conference in London Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg – Ex-Deutsche Bank Trader Said to Sue U.K. FCA in Identity Spat

---