E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA 23-year-old financier who garnered headlines after reportedly running up a bar bill of more than $315,000 last month has been arrested over suspected unauthorized trading.
Alex Hope's spending during a night out in Liverpool, England, included a near-8 gallon bottle of Armand de Brignac Champagne known as the Ace of Spades that had to be carried to his table by two people. It alone was worth nearly $200,000, "the drinks business" website reported. It said this was a world-record bar bill at a nightclub, beating the previous record of $270,000 by U.S gambler Don Johnson in London last year.
"After just three years in finance, Hope is well known in the industry as a high flyer, and has been tipped by many to become one of the biggest traders in London," the website said last month.
However, the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority posted a statement on its website on Tuesday saying police had carried out a search of an address in East London "into a suspected unauthorized foreign exchange trading scheme."
"A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of committing offenses" under financial and fraud regulations, the FSA said, adding that the man had not been charged "at this stage."
'I can't talk'
A FSA spokesman declined to comment on his identity when contacted by msnbc.com Thursday, but newspapers reportedly widely that it was Hope.
"I can't talk. I've got no comment whatsoever, to be honest with you ... I don't want to comment on anything,” Hope told The Guardian.
He has been more talkative in the past.
Hope set up a "showreel" on YouTube, in which he said, "you don’t see a lot of people my age in the City [of London] doing what I do and I feel I've got lots of good opinions of the markets as well which you don't hear from people my age."
Hope also promoted himself on his blog, alexhopefx, and on Facebook.
"Alex knows and loves the FX [foreign exchange] market. Throughout his youth, his passions were football and…currencies! At the age of 11, Alex had a deep-rooted interest in the different currencies and relished trips across Europe where he could explore this interest first hand," he wrote on the blog, according to the Daily Mail.
"Opening his first account with just £500, in one day he'd doubled his money and turned the £500 into £1,100 by trading gold. A talented, charismatic and thoroughly likeable man, Alex Hope exudes knowledge and you can't help but respect and admire this self-taught and self-made young trader. Watch out trading markets, Alex Hope is kicking up a storm!"
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- 'Martyr for Greece': Retiree's suicide sparks violent protests
- With $10 million bounty on his head, militant openly taunts US
- Reports: 23-year-old with $315K bar bill held in trading probe
- Better luck next year? Scotland's pandas fail to mate
- 'I've got snakes on a plane': Pilot makes emergency landing
- PhotoBlog: Wife held at knifepoint for 6 hours
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
I hope the guy at least got "lucky" otherwise, He's one of the biggest losers of all time.
Tarbennder another martoony please.
Allowing a 23 y.o. to have a bar tab that high?! Was the bartender drunk?
It´s well known around town that he has the money to pay for it.
What does a 23yo know and what can he contribute to the society to earn that much money. The system is rotten and corrupt. He is a gambler in the high stakes casino. Won't last long.
Reminds me of John Law
If he traveled around the world as a kid, I presume that is an indication that his family had money. Hope is just another arrogant idiot from a moneyed family. The world has had enough to these people. Absent that privilege, these people would be cleaning my toilets.
Larry, he relished trips across Europe.
"There's no need to fly from the UK to anywhere in Europe. It's surprisingly easy, quick and comfortable to travel overland by train from London to just about anywhere: Spain, Italy, Greece, Prague, Helsinki, Moscow... "Eurostar links the UK not just with Paris, but with destinations all over Europe."
As shrewd as he sounds with his personal money, I'm willing to bet he attempted to expense/write off that bar bill, rather than pay for it with his own money, which is the ultimate slap in the face to the average Joe...
Have fun getting bent over in prison, I do say!
A $200,000 bottle of champagne?
Narcissism and greed...just another example of what's wrong with our society.
a bullet to the head before he gets into finances any deeper
I say, old bean, you're making the rest of us look quite bad. Please fleece your money quietly, then enjoy your "tea and crumpets" discreetly. Good show. Jolly good show.
It appears that the financial industry (particular the trading desks) attracts the worst type of psychopaths and sociopaths on the planet.
Plus $47,250.00 gratuity.. Good night for a waiter..!
Yes indeedy!
An Ego as big as outdoors and a mouth...or fingers (online) to suit. I hope he has to pay for that bar tab himself, no expense accounts or company credit cards covering it. Then maybe he'll have a better opinion of others that work for a living. My guess is that after this, win or lose, his importance with the company will never be the same again.
The tab was paid the night it was ran up last month.
I don't care what this kid made. He is an immature imbecile. These punks come and go and they eventually crash and burn. Remember the trader from CFSB that lost the bank $2 BILLION or the case of the trader in Paris who was falsifying his P&L records?
The people who make successes of themselves long-term have a better sense of themselves than these idiots. The fact that we still allow these morons accustomed to playing video games waste our money needlessly amazes me.
Guy Little
I would have loved to be the waiter that night!
I'll wager that someone will pop in here to post something to the effect that just because someone makes a lot of money, that doesn't mean he's doing something wrong or illegal. My response is to point out a few things. When one person "earns" a huge amount of money on a currency trade, that means that someone else has lost that money. Trading currencies is a zero-sum game - it's not a productive economic activity. It doesn't produce any economic gain, unlike activities like manufacturing something, inventing something, or even just providing some sort of service to others. Currency traders are parasites, and all "earned" money is tantamount to theft.
Apparently your mind is made up, but I'm going to point out that there are times when currency trading is a productive activity. For instance, a small US manufacturer wants to sell overseas but can't afford the risk of currency fluctuations. What if the Euro tumbles, for instance? It can go to the currency markets and buy, effectively, "insurance" (currency speculation, in effect) to protect itself against such a risk. Yes, if the Euro subsequently falls someone on the other side of the transaction loses money, but that's no different than if your house burns down and the insurance company has to pay up. It lost money on you in this particular instance.
Is insurance a non-productive activity? Viewed by itself, yes. But, its existence enables a wide range of other productive activities that wouldn't be possible otherwise (would a bank lend money for a new factory or equipment if insurance wasn't available? doubtful).
Most economic instruments exist because they have a purpose. Its just that sometimes they're abused.
Well put. I'll grant that it's sometimes a useful activity. I have to wonder about the ratio of abuse to usefulness, however. There's an awful lot of raw speculation going on out there, in all sorts of markets. I fear that most of it is not occurring as a byproduct of providing a useful economic service, and is ultimately just distorting those markets.
LOL Lose at Forex, did ya?
The Forex market makes it possible for a very large percentage of Americans to work and to eat. Without it, we--and every other developed country--would be a third-world nation overnight, since we could afford to neither import nor export anything we grow or make or purchase parts to make.
But the fool featured in the story is a speculator, and I speculate that you're all upset about speculation. Probably because you lost money trying to play the game a few years back when all the cool guys were day traders.
Here's the sad truth: it takes about 10 years of hard work and devoted study to become a successful Forex career trader. 98% blow up and drop out because it's too hard and requires too much self-control. The other 2% continue to work hard the rest of their working lives.
Hardly the dream job of a "parasite."
As for the fool in the story, he's not old enough to be successful at anything yet, except making an ass of himself.
Without the stabilizing influence of Forex traders, politicians and central banks would manipulate their currencies until the entire global monetary system was blown up. Japan, for example, tries it every year, at least once and often multiple times. Forex traders make a little money off it, then push the yen right back where it belongs. You can thank them instead of calling them names.
Do your homework. Pay your dues. Stop trying to get something for nothing. Maybe next time you won't blow up your account. ;)
Barry-NJ / "Most economic instruments exist because they have a purpose. Its just that sometimes they're abused."
EarlyOut / I have to wonder about the ratio of abuse to usefulness, however. There's an awful lot of raw speculation going on out there, in all sorts of markets.
Both well-abused by the US Govt. and our trillion dollar debt!
I wouldn't plunge into Forex on a dare. And the widespread advertisements that encourage ordinary investors to get involved in it might as well be headlined, "Sheep Wanted!"
Never day-traded, either. Day trading is another sore subject. The original purpose of a stock market is to provide a way for businesses to raise capital to fund their operations, and to provide a way for a broad range of people to participate in those businesses. You'd never guess that, looking at the market these days. Buying and selling a stock within 0.47 seconds is not "investing" - it's just gambling. Ditto for buying or selling stocks based on "technical analysis," i.e., casting runes, rather than actually figuring out what the long-term prospects of the business in question are like.
Next time you see a dollar on the sidewalk; Don't pick it up. Its not yours and you are stealing if you take it.
If there is money to be made, then take it. If you don't know the market (or the risk) don't trade.
Can I have some cheese with your whine?
Is there any chance that the Iraqi Dinar investors will see a huge return? Or is it a scam ? They are expecting to get rich quick.
Pacem--
Don't DO that! Jeeze, did I just go to the trouble of writing a long post to tell fools DON'T DO THAT?
None of it is a scam and all of it is a scam. See EarlyOut's post above:
That is 100% correct for the simple reason that learning to trade Forex successfully takes years of hard work. Yes, you can luck into something and make a bunch of money. And I GUARANTEE, you will turn right around and lose it all back, plus more.
Remember the dot-com bubble? Everyone and their brother made a fortune. They were all hot-shots and got the fast cars and pretty girls. Next thing you know, they're whining on the Internet: "Yesterday I was a multi-millionaire and today I'm bankrupt."
That wasn't because the bubble burst. It was because they didn't know how to trade. Real traders made money when the bubble grew and made bigger money when the bubble burst.
The fact that you're asking about huge returns on the Dinar proves that you don't have a clue about Forex. Now that's it. I've done my duty. But I'm a career Forex trader, and if you show up, I'm going to take your money.
Patter, thanks for replying. One of my associates invested in Dinars and is always anxious about the constant "this week the revaluation will come through if..." and "the gurus say...". He expects his $2,500.00 investment will make him a multi-millionaire. Quite frankly , it can be annoying.
Don't worry, I do not need to nor do I have any intention of investing in this " Dinar opportunity". Best of luck in your endeavours. Thanks.
Whatever merits the currency or carry trade had at one point, you can bet that Wall Street and Canary Wharfwill f*** and it up and create a crisis with it. It never fails. It is not the activity but the sort of immature trash that is attracted to these businesses.
There's something creepy about people who refer to themselves in the third-person. The quoted postings are just weird.
"George is gettin' upset!"
liars, cheaters, and thieves- oh my!
Tell the author of the story that the "CITY" is not London, but is the financial district of in London that is the equivalent of New York's Wall St. The "CITY" is also know as the "Square Mile"
Um, no, actually. "The City" refers to "The City of London." However, "The City of London" is the "Square Mile," and does not refer to the same thing as "London," which is the name of a metropolis that includes "The City of London."
This will be on the mid-term.
$200.000...that's an expensive bottle of bubbly.
So this guy is 23 and has been working in finance since he was 20? Which means he went to school for what, 2 years? No wonder the finance world is such a wreck! Any schmuck can wander in off the streets and become a "promising" trader!
Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.
I think the bar is a bunch of dumba$$e$ for letting SOME kid run up that type of bar bill. No matter rich this KID is. But, that's the money hungry society we have today.
Gee, I thought bars were in the business of selling alcoholic drinks to their customers. What WERE they thinking?
Actually, letting dumbass kids with a lot of money run up huge bar tabs makes perfect business sense for a bar. Good for them!
Party!! Did he stiff the bar for the tab??
Yes, running up a tab and paying a tab are two different things, aren't they?
Frankly, I would not want to invest with someone who was so careless with money.
Throwing money around like that shows a profound disrespect for it. But plebes think it is a sign of success, which is why all those "financial seminar" folks like to show off their stucco home with the used Ferrari parked in front. Ohhh.... they must be successful! They have a fancy car!
Tossing more that a quarter-mil on champagne is idiotic. A sign of weakness, not of strength.
Yes ,,,I agree ,,what bunch of total disrespect of what money is,,,,,,I would watch out for people like this "Mr Hope" ,,,he's way too reckless and cavalier for my tastes .
My own lifes experiences have shown me that these types persons can do some real damage,,,,
And when do you expect him to be in Rehab?
Sounds like the typical entitled douche canoe you'd find at any decent sized nightclub. Or on any trading floor.
Sounds like this guy is a complete and utter tool.
Yeah JamesntheHeartland,,,,I was thinking the same thing . Who in their right mind would let some one run up that kind of "bar tab" ?????,,,,,that's what I find hard to believe
I learned a lot today reading Barry NJ and EarlyOut's postings :-).
Financiers seem to contribute nothing to society.
Useless twit-Build a school or something,
"Watch out trading markets, Alex Hope is kicking up a storm!"
Watch out investors, Alex Hope is kicking up bull shiite.
Currency trading is not for amateurs, and you can lose your shirt doing this. The idea that a 23-year-old, just out of school, is a trading superstar, is, well, far-fetched.
And most serious traders do not hype themselves like used cars on Facebook and other sites.
Yet, I suspect a lot of people fall for this sort of hoopla.
He isn't as smart as he thinks he is running up a bill that large all in one place all in one evening. He isn't known for having inherited wealth so of course folks want to know where that kind of money came from.
The ugly side of capitalism manifesting itself before our very eyes. Just part of the grand show demonstrating the deterioration of US society.
Ummmm...I could be wrong, buuuuuuuut this guy is British, at least according to my interpretation of the article. Normally I just glance over the postings bashing US citizens, as it is generally hard to defend given the large number of idiots, a-holes, douchebags, etc that make the news on a regular basis. For once, another country can lay a claim of ownership to this immature individual. Yeah, US!!!
Poor guy, he's forgetting the #1 rule of the street, "bears get rich, bulls get rich. Hogs always go to slaughter."
The bar assumed no risk, the gentleman did.
If you have the right kind of AmEx charge card, you have no limit so, if you have the waiter swipe your card, you can run up any tab you like. The bar gets their money and the gentleman has to pay the charge card bill at the end of the month, just like the rest of us.
Of course, most of the rest of us do not qualify for this card.
Besides, who doesn't want 15% of $300,000?