Westpac trader banned from financial services

Jeremy Kaviraj Nambiar of St Ives, NSW was banned after an ASIC investigation found he created a series of fictitious trading entries and created a false document in 2009 and 2010.

“Mr Nambiar was employed at Westpac Institutional Bank to trade on a range of financial products, including foreign exchange and cross-currency swaps on behalf of Westpac,” said a statement by ASIC.

“ASIC’s investigation found that during his time at the bank Mr Nambiar made more than 100 fictitious trading entries, including off-market trades which created the false appearance of profit.

“It was found that some fictitious trading entries were created to conceal a loss of more than $1 million in AUD/USD spot foreign exchange,” said ASIC.

As a result of Mr Nambiar’s conduct, approximately $17.6 million was written off the income statement of Westpac’s financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2011.

“Mr Nambiar did not personally benefit from the trades. The trades were internal to Westpac and no customers were affected,” the ASIC statement said.

In 2010, Mr Nambiar started work at Nomura Australia Ltd as an associate in the company's fixed income division.

It was found that in 2011, while employed at Nomura, Mr Nambiar created a false email purporting to be from an external broker containing broker quotes. It was also found that the email was likely to mislead Nomura staff.

Commissioner Greg Tanzer said, "ASIC will continue to protect the public and maintain investor and consumer confidence by taking action against people in the industry who disregard their obligations."

Mr Nambiar has the right of appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.

He was employed at Westpac from 4 February 2008 to 11 August 2010 and at Nomura from 23 August 2010 to 29 March 2011.