UBS Building Pic: Koos Couvee

Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS AG trader who is accused of causing the largest loss from unauthorized trading in British history, pleaded not guilty of fraud and false accounting today at Southwark Crown Court.

Adoboli, from Clark Street, Tower Hamlets, has been in custody since September 15 when UBS, the Swiss global financial services company, asked London police to arrest him for causing an approximate £1.5 billion loss.

He told bank officials that he falsified counterparties in transactions after they questioned several trades. He was charged on September 16 last year.

The 31-year-old worked for UBS’s global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds, which track different types of stocks, bonds or commodities such as metals.

He is accused of abusing his position for personal gain and causing UBS losses or exposing the bank to the risk of loss.

City watchdog the Financial Services Authority and its Swiss counterpart have launched an investigation into why UBS failed to spot allegedly fraudulent trading.

Charges relate to the period between October 2008 and September 2011. Prosecutors allege he gambled away the cash while buying and selling exchange traded funds.

Judge Alistair McCreath set a provisional trial date of September 3, 2012.

The judge remanded Adoboli in custody. A pre-trial management hearing will take place on 9 April.