Kweku Adoboli pleads not guilty

A 31-year-old City trader has pleaded not guilty to four counts of fraud and false accounting while working for the Swiss bank UBS at Southwark crown court.

Kweku Adoboli, of east London, appeared at Southwark crown court to deny the charges. They relate to Britain's biggest banking fraud, which cost UBS almost £1.5bn.

Adoboli, the former senior trader on the bank's global synthetic equities desk, spoke only to confirm his name, plead not guilty to the charges and thank Judge Alistair McCreath when he remanded him in custody to face trial on 3 September. The trial is expected to last for around six weeks.

A packed court heard that between 1 October 2008 and 1 June 2011, Adoboli was accused of fraud and was told he "dishonestly abused his position to gain for yourself".

He was also accused of false accounting by falsifying records of transactions for UBS over the same period. Between May and September last year, he was accused of false accounting of exchange traded funds and "fraud by abuse of position".

Adoboli took notes throughout the brief hearing, which lasted for around 20 minutes.

The judge told him: "Kweku Adoboli, I remand you in custody. I or some other judge will hear any application for bail as and when it is made. Your trial will be on 3 September. There will be a case management hearing on 9 April."