HP and UBS Are Hiding Behind Their Scapegoats

Kweku Adoboli, a former trader at UBS AG arrives at Southwark Crown
Court in London, on Sept. 27, 2012 — Kweku Adoboli, a former trader at UBS AG arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, on Sept. 27, 2012Photograph by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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By Diane Brady

November 23, 2012 at 7:56 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The rogue is a perfect villain. This week we had two: Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS trader who got seven years in jail for rogue trades, and Mike Lynch, the rogue leader who allegedly tricked Hewlett-Packard into buying Autonomy with dodgy accounting. Both are being blamed for causing massive damage—a $2.3 billion loss for UBS and an $8.8 billion writedown for HP. Both are colorful characters who’d made their homes in London. Adoboli is a Ghanian-born son of privilege who was nurtured as a high-potential player at the bank; Lynch is the Irish-born mathematical genius and entrepreneur who’d built one of the U.K.’s greatest tech companies.

Whatever blame they may deserve for their actions—and Lynch has said several times this week that he deserves none—neither is a solo actor in these losses. The companies that are portraying themselves as victims deserve some blame, too.