Barings tribunal reaches verdict

An independent City disciplinary tribunal has reached a decision on the case brought by the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA) against Ian Hopkins, the former head of group treasury and risk at Barings, but will not publish its findings until an appeals process has been concluded.

However, the tribunal is understood to have banned Mr Hopkins from being a director in the City for up to three years and ordered him to pay pounds 10,000 costs. Mr Hopkins, who did not attend the tribunal and was not legally represented either, could not be reached for comment. He has 10 days from receiving the written judgement to lodge an appeal.

Mr Hopkins was among a group of former Barings executives against whom the SFA brought disciplinary charges after the downfall of the bank in 1995. It collapsed after the Singapore-based trader Nick Leeson ran up losses of over pounds 800m through unauthorised trading.

Mr Hopkins told the Treasury Select Committee investigation into Barings last year that his attempts to warn more senior Barings executives about potential problems had gone unheeded.

Written submissions from Mr Hopkins to the SFA, in which he denied charges made against him, and evidence he gave to the Bank of England's Board of Banking Supervision, to the inspectors appointed by the Minister for Finance in Singapore and to the Treasury select committee were considered at the tribunal.