A former investment banker has been fined more than £37,000 for sharing confidential client information over the WhatsApp messaging service.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it was fining Christopher Niehaus £37,198 over his failure to act with “due skill, care and diligence” in a bid to impress the people to whom he was leaking the information.
Niehaus, 49, a managing director in the investment banking division at Jefferies, shared client information about a client with both a personal acquaintance and a friend, who was also a client of the firm.
The information was shared several times between 24 January and 16 May 2016, and on one occasion the leak to his friend, who was a client, was about a competitor.
“Mr Niehaus used the instant messaging application WhatsApp to share this information,” the financial watchdog said in a statement. “The information was shared by Niehaus because he wanted to impress the people that he shared the information with.”
The nature of the information shared included the identity of the client, details of the work being carried out, and the fee Jefferies would charge for their involvement in the transaction.
Niehaus also boasted about how he might have been able to pay off his mortgage if one of the deals were successful, the FCA said.
Niehaus was suspended from Jefferies during the disciplinary process and resigned before its completion. The penalty was reduced by 15% because the former banker admitted the actions to the FCA in an early interview.
Jefferies refused to comment.
