FCA fines former banker £37k over WhatsApp messages

The FCA found that Niehaus, who was a managing director in the Investment Banking division at Jefferies International, "failed to act with due skill, care and diligence" after receiving client confidential information and sharing it with a friend who was also a client of the firm.

In one of the instances where he shared client confidential information, that information was about a competitor. The FCA believes the information was shared by Mr Niehaus because "he wanted to impress the people that he shared the information with".

The details of the information he shared included the identity of the client, the details relating to the client mandate and the fee Jefferies would charge for their involvement in the transaction. Mr Niehaus also boasted about how he may be able to pay off his mortgage if one of the deals was successful.

Niehaus was suspended from Jefferies pending the completion of its disciplinary process and he resigned before that process was completed.

He agreed to settle during the stage 1 settlement period, avoiding a larger penalty of £53,140.