JP Morgan Banker Storms Out Over Fine

It was revealed on Tuesday that Ian Hannam, one of JP Morgan's most senior bankers, resigned after being fined by Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) for market abuse.

According to Reuters, the abuse related to inside information of Heritage Oil, emailed to a prospective client.

The FSA said that it had fined Hannam 450,000 pounds ($720,000) over the abuse, and JP Morgan announced his resignation to staff in a memo soon afterwards.

It is an odd situation for an industry veteran like Hannam to get himself into. After all, we are not talking about a naïve newcomer to the job. Perhaps that is why Hannam walked away so quickly. He simply does not have any excuses.

Hannam's current deals include advising mining company Xstrata on its merger with Glencore. He said that he been fully cooperative with the FSA's investigation, and he would be lodging an appeal.

"I will complete my current client commitments and ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities," Hannam said in an emailed statement. "Appealing the case while still at the firm would be an unfair distraction to my clients and colleagues."

It still does not seem to ring true. If Hannam is appealing and truly believes he is innocent, surely he would want to hold onto his job. If cleared, he would surely be able to carry on as normal.

Still, the charges are pretty damning. The FSA said in a statement that Hannam had clearly disclosed the insider information on Heritage, a JP Morgan client, in two separate emails sent to his prospective client back in September and October 2008.

One of the emails contained information about a possible offer going in for Heritage. The other shared details of a new oil find. Both should not have been sent at all.

Hannam has a rich pedigree, having been involved in the tie-up between Cazenove and JP Morgan, and for other top work in the industry.

He is a former soldier and engineer who kicked off his career with house builder Taylor Woodrow. Born in London, he started his banking career with the Salomon Brothers in New York in the '80s, moving to Robert Fleming in '92.