Thursday 2 June 2022 11:58 AM Chinese trader's boss suggested he couldn't admit things were going wrong ... trends now
Chinese investment banker Samuel Yang has won a discrimination case after his boss Tony Botting (pictured) said he couldn't admit things were going wrong because 'Asian culture' meant he didn't want 'to lose face'
A Chinese trader has won a discrimination case after his boss said he couldn't admit things were going wrong because 'Asian culture' meant he didn't want 'to lose face'.
Samuel Yang was executive director of investment bank Credit Agricole's precious metals desk in London, where he would deal in gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
He was fired after he failed to flag more than £25.8million in losses after the Covid pandemic hit the markets in March 2020.
An employment tribunal hear the bank was suddenly exposed to 'unprecedented' levels of risk because of the virus, and working from home made his job harder.
He was sacked for failing to tell his bosses one of its precious metal trades ended up losing the bank the huge sum as soon as the trade went through.
But the tribunal ruled he was unfairly dismissed as the investigation and disciplinary hearings failed to properly interview other witnesses.
It also ruled Mr Yang was a victim of race discrimination.
His boss Tony Botting told a disciplinary hearing Asian people 'can sometimes be reluctant to agree to something that has gone on' because they don't want to 'lose face'.
Mr Yang is now set to receive compensation for unfair dismissal and race discrimination.
Samuel Yang was executive director of investment bank Credit Agricole's precious metals desk in London (office pictured), where he would deal in gold, silver, platinum and palladium. He has won a discrimination case after his boss said he couldn't admit things were going wrong because 'Asian culture' meant he didn't want 'to lose face'
The tribunal heard Mr Yang was highly experienced, with previous jobs at the Bank of China in Shanghai before he moved to the UK in 2006 and joined Credit Agricole in 2011.
He was eventually promoted to executive director of the bank's precious metals trading desk.
He reported directly to Mr Botting and was involved in the 'intense exercise' of trading, using seven and a half screens to constantly monitor the movements of the market.
The Covid pandemic affected global financial markets, causing 'significant instability'.
The gold market was rocked by the start of lockdowns because gold could no longer be transported to trading hubs and refineries were shut down.
In March 2020, concerns were being raised about the volatility of the precious metals markets and employees were constantly told to report any issues or 'high risk' incidents to management.
The tribunal heard that between March 23 and 27, 2020, the difference in gold prices which Mr Yang's team were trading on, increased to 'unprecedented levels', exposing the bank's trades to heightened risk.
Between March 23 and 25, Mr Yang worked from home, where his access to the data needed to assess the state of the gold market was reduced.
The tribunal heard he also had limited access to risk management tools and, in the early stages of the pandemic, the
