Morgan Stanley bond trader banned by US regulators as Venezuela bond controversy heats up

US regulators have banned a Morgan Stanley banker from markets after he hid millions of dollars of Venezuelan bond trades from his firm, as controversy mounts around the embattled regime’s efforts to raise finance. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) today banned former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney trader John Batista Bocchino for concealing approximately $190m (£148m) in Venezuelan bond trades from the firm. The bank had restricted trading in Venezuelan government debt because of regulatory risk as well as the possible hit to the bank’s reputation, but Bocchino hid the identities of his customers to make 300 trades, Finra said. More…