City trader 'sacked for whistleblowing'
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A City trader who is claiming unfair dismissal against a leading finance house accused the company yesterday of sacking him for whistleblowing.
Russell Johnston claims he was fired from Credit Suisse Securities for warning that a $15m (£10m) deal by his boss had put the company in danger.
The firm denies he was sacked, saying he resigned to join another bank, but Mr Johnston told an employment tribunal in London that he was dismissed for alerting the company to a deal transacted by Wayne Dooley which left it "in a life and death situation".
He said Mr Dooley bought $15m of bonds from a German bank on 20 December 2000, leaving the company with insufficient capital to cover its liabilities.
Mr Johnston, 43, from Essex, said CSS's capital reserves fell below the amount allowed by the Securities and Futures Authority (now part of the Financial Services Authority), but failed to inform the watchdog. He said he had to sell $4.4m of bonds on 19 January 2001 to CSS's sister company Credit Suisse First Boston to make up the deficit.
Lawyers for CSS said the company did not accept it dismissed Mr Johnston, but argued it would have been justified in doing so because he was colluding with another trader. The hearing continues.