Financial analysts lobby deregisters David Maena for 10 years over rogue trade

The Institute of Certified Investment Financial Analysts (Icifa) has deregistered former CBA Capital executive David Tumaini Maena for 10 years and imposed a Sh1.1 million fine for professional misconduct.

The misconduct relates to his tenure as a fixed income dealer between January 2016 and June 2017 while trading treasury bonds.

“The disciplinary committee of Icifa has found Mr Maena culpable of professional misconduct in the execution of his duties and responsibilities as a registered investment and financial analyst by failing to observe and apply professional, technical, ethical or other standards prescribed as guidelines for practice by members of the institute,” the investment and financial analysts’ umbrella regulator sais in a statement.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) had earlier in February this year fined Mr Maena Sh166.9 million for engaging in insider trading in Treasury bonds between 2016 and 2017.

This is after he was found guilty of dealing with privileged (non-public) information on bond trades, which he used to front-run the market in order to profit at the expense of other investors.

The CMA said then the rogue treasury bonds dealer pocketed Sh83.4 million from the irregular trades.

Mr Maena faces jail and risk of seizure of personal assets after the CMA also referred his case to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) with recommendation to confiscate assets he may have acquired from the illegal proceeds and handed Mr Maena’s file to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr Noordin Haji, to consider opening criminal investigations related to the irregular trades.

Mr Maena, according to the CMA, was at the centre of the illegal trades involving fixed income dealers at investment banks, asset management firms and brokerage firms who colluded with individual bond facility holders to create artificial arbitrage opportunities based on privileged knowledge of customer orders.