Christopher Niehaus, an ex-managing director of the investment banking arm at Jefferies International Limited, boasted in one message about being able to pay off his mortgage if a deal with one of his clients went through.
In other messages, sent via the social media app to a close friend and a colleague, Niehaus revealed the identity of clients, details about their mandate and the fees he would charge them.
One of the messages included information about a “massive mandate” from one client, who was a direct competitor with one of Niehaus’ Whatsapp friends at the time.
The FCA found that Mr Niehaus failed to act with due skill, care and diligence when he sent the messages between 24 January and 16 May 2016.
Serious misconduct
Niehaus resigned from his role at Jefferies after being suspended during the FCA investigation last year.
He admitted he should not have revealed the information and that he “did not know” why he had done it, other than to impress his friend and colleague.
In its final ruling, the FCA said: “Mr Niehaus’ conduct is particularly serious, given that some of the information disclosed related to a competitor of Client A.
“Mr Niehaus’ disclosure of client confidential information to a competitor could have conferred an undue advantage to Client A and demonstrates a failure to pay due regard to the interests of his client.”
The FCA reduced his penalty by 15% after Niehaus admitted the offences at the early interview.
The regulator also accepted that neither Niehaus nor the friends he shared the information with dealt in any securities relating to the messages.
