Adoboli, 32, has charged with fraud and false accounting, and market professionals are salivating at the prospect of finding out just what went on at the firm and how one man, despite all the controls, could build up some $2.3bn in unauthorized trading losses, some of which are thought to have gone back over a period of months.
But for all the hype and expectation, this whole trial is likely to be a bit of a damp squib. Sure, there's bound to be some revelations that UBS might not like to be made public, but by and large this affair has been dealt with at the bank, which has moved on - the Group CEO at the time, Oswald Gruebel, has long since resigned, the trading loss has been written off, investors have reached their judgement, and dozens of staff are said to have either been fired or disciplined over the affair.
In fact, there are only likely to be two individuals who will be impacted by the events of the coming few weeks - Adoboli himself and Carsten Kengeter, the head of UBS Investment Bank who, despite being in charge of the unit at the time of the trading loss, has still managed to hang on to his job.
UBS has been steadfast in sticking by Kengeter, despite calls for his head as details of the trading loss emerged last year. And what should be revealed as the trial unfolds is whether the bank was right to do so, or whether he should have followed Gruebel and graciously resigned. For Kengeter, then, there is likely to be redemption - or further condemnation. For Adoboli, of course, the stakes are much higher.
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