The Swiss bank has let go the banker behind the popular «Russian Market» social media account, finews.asia can reveal. He had begun a job in UBS’ wealth management arm nearly three months ago.

Zurich-based UBS dismissed «Russian Market,» the moniker of a Swiss banker with a Twitter following of more than 163,000, a source familiar with the matter told finews.asia on Monday. A spokesman for UBS declined to comment.

The banker has become hugely popular for dispersing financial market news with breathtaking speed, as well as criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. UBS elected to dissolve the banker’s contract during a three-month probationary period, the person said.

He had been hired in November as an investment adviser for ultra-high net worth Russian and CIS country clients, they noted. The Russian-Swiss banker, who has been vocal in his support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, didn’t comment to finews.com.

Bloomberg Cut Off

The Swiss wealth manager informed the banker his dismissal was because his behavior fell short of UBS’ standards. The banker’s apparent lack of access to Bloomberg's financial market data also factored into the decision.

«Russian Market» on Sunday tweeted that Bloomberg’s product oversight had banned him. «Following review and internal discussions, Bloomberg has made the business decision not to offer services,» according to a screenshot tweeted by the «Russian Market» account. 

 

finews.asia couldn’t verify the document; a spokeswoman for Bloomberg didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.