A London quant analyst convicted of stealing millions of pounds worth of secret algorithmic trading strategies has been stopped by his former employer, Trenchant Ltd., from being deported to China.
Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled that Ke Xu must surrender his passport until he discloses what he has done with the stolen information. The U.K. Home Office wants to deport Xu, who is being held at a facility near Heathrow Airport, as soon as possible.
Trenchant, which failed in December to overturn the Home Office’s decision, said that if Xu is allowed to return to China he will pose a serious threat to the firm by selling whatever he stole to the highest bidder. Trenchant’s algorithmic investment strategies are used by its associated companies to make financial-market investments.
Trenchant has a strong case that Xu "wrongfully took confidential information," the judge said in his ruling. "The disclosure sought is necessary to protect the claimants’ legitimate need to identify where the information is, so that their rights in respect of it can be protected, and the information can duly be retrieved."
Trenchant’s lawyers declined to comment on the ruling.
University of Cambridge
Xu, a University of Cambridge graduate who had worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., worked at Trenchant between 2012 and 2014. He undertook a "sustained and extensive attack" on the fund’s computer systems and reverse-engineered code for 55 investment strategies estimated to be worth 31 million pounds ($44 million).
He went to Hong Kong in August 2014 to meet headhunters with the stolen data. Xu was arrested there and extradited to the U.K. He pleaded guilty to a series of charges and was sentenced to four years in jail in July 2015. It’s British policy to deport foreign criminals who have been sentenced to more than four years in U.K. prison.
The shelf life of the stolen codes are thought to be around five years, the fund’s lawyers said at previous hearings. Although the value of the strategies diminish over time they are thought to still hold significant value, they said. Trenchant develops the algorithmic investment strategies that associated companies run on computer platforms to make financial market investments.
Xu said that he can’t be ordered to provide information that he doesn’t have and has already been ordered to as part of the criminal proceedings. He faces the prospect of a full civil trial in April.
A Home Office spokeswoman didn’t initially comment on the ruling. A lawyer for Xu, who represents him on another matter, said he would send questions to his client.