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A senior investment manager who used to work in one of Jersey’s top banks has this morning been found guilty of taking client files from his old employer to a new job in the first prosecution of its kind in the Island.
A senior investment manager who used to work in one of Jersey’s top banks has this morning been found guilty of taking client files from his old employer to a new job in the first prosecution of its kind in the Island.
Roger Quirk (40) admitted three counts of breaking the Data Protection Law by ‘unlawfully obtaining personal data’ taking hundreds of pages of files including client contact details, full investment portfolios and valuations when he left his position as Senior Client Partner at Coutts’ Jersey office for a new role at Clariden Leu in London back in 2011.
The New Zealand-born banker is now working in Geneva as the Head of UK at Lloyds Banking Group.
Deputy Data Protection Commissioner Paul Vane, who led the investigation against Quirk, praised Coutts and Clariden Leu for fully co-operating with the inquiry. He said that Coutts had taken all of the necessary steps in terms of Data Protection training and policies with its staff including Quirk, and that Clariden Leu had taken immediate action when they were told their new employee had been approaching former clients from their offices, and had returned 300 pages of documents to the Jersey firm.
‘This kind of misuse of personal information is a serious offence, and we will use our powers to take action against those who break the law,’ said Mr Vane.
‘The Quirk case highlights a growing trend – we have three similar investigations on the books at the moment.
‘Both of the firms involved in this case, Coutts and Clariden Leu, took all of the appropriate steps and treated this incident very seriously, and we are grateful to them for their co-operation. Regardless of the sentence passed down by the Magistrate’s Court this morning, a conviction for breaking the Data Protection Law doesn’t look very good on the CV of anyone who wants to work with sensitive information, and we hope that this case will act as a warning.’
Mr Quirk was given an absolute discharge by the court, avoiding a fine or imprisonment.
