Sometimes it’s best to leave bad enough alone. Former GLG Partner star Philippe Jabre got a nasty surprise at the hearing appealing the £750,000 (US$1.4 million) fine imposed on him earlier this year by the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority. Observers considered the fine a relative slap on the wrist, but now that it has been appealed to the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal, which reviews FSA rulings, the FSA has decided to ask for something it didn’t hit Jabre with before: a ban from trading. According to The Telegraph, the FSA feels the tribunal should hear all the evidence anew, and the agency has asked for the ban. The FSA argues that Jabre is not “fit and proper” to be licensed to trade because he “deliberately and knowingly committed” market abuse. Attorneys for Jabre, however, insist that the FSA didn’t even have jurisdiction to find their client guilty since the trades in question occurred in Tokyo. Jabre did emerge with one small victory, says The Telegraph. The tribunal set a June date for a hearing on the ban and jurisdiction. In any case, Jabre could be back in business by the end of the year. Even if he is not banned, he has a non-compete pact with GLG that keeps him from trading for six months; if he is, Jabre could reapply for licensing with the FSA.
