London , England ( CNN ) -- Britain 's financial regulator said Wednesday it has banned an oil trader after he made huge trades while drunk last year , causing global prices of Brent crude to jump to abnormally high levels . Steven Noel Perkins , a former oil futures broker in the London office of PVM Oil Futures , was also fined £72,000 ( $ 108,400 ) for market abuse , the Financial Services Authority ( FSA ) said . He is now banned from working in the financial services industry on the grounds that he is `` not a fit and proper person , '' the FSA said . Perkins ' job was to trade orders on an execution-only basis in Brent crude futures contracts on the ICE Futures Europe ( ICE ) exchange for his firm 's clients , the FSA said . Early in the morning of Tuesday , June 30 , 2009 , Perkins traded on the ICE without any client authorization . He traded an extremely high volume and thus accumulated a long outright position on Brent . The price of Brent increased significantly as a direct result of his trades , the FSA said . His trading pushed the price up to $ 73.50 a barrel , the highest level it had hit so far that year , according to Reuters . The FSA said the trading seems to have been a result of `` extremely heavy drinking '' resulting from Perkins ' alcoholism , which he now acknowledges . He had drunk `` excessively '' over the weekend of June 27-28 and throughout the following Monday before making the trades , the FSA said . `` The FSA views market manipulation extremely seriously , '' said Alexander Justham , director of markets at the FSA . `` Perkins ' trading caused disruption to the market and has been met with both a fine and prohibition . This reinforces the fact that a severe sanction will apply in cases of market manipulation , even where no profit is made . `` Perkins ' drunkenness does not excuse his market abuse . Perkins has been banned because he is not a fit and proper person to be involved in regulated activities and his behavior posed a risk to the proper functioning of the market . '' In sanctioning Perkins , the FSA said it also took into account the fact that Perkins initially lied repeatedly to his employer to try to cover up his unauthorized trading . Perkins joined a rehabilitation program for alcoholics immediately after the incident and has now stopped drinking , the FSA said . `` The FSA considers that it is possible that Perkins may be rehabilitated over time and may be fit and proper again in the future , '' it said in a statement . `` The ban has therefore been limited to a minimum term of 5 years . '' The penalty for Perkins ' behavior merits a fine of £150,000 ( $ 225,900 ) , but the FSA said it reduced that to £90,000 ( $ 135,500 ) because the higher figure would cause him serious financial hardship . Because Perkins agreed to settle the case , the fine was reduced by a further 20 percent , the FSA said .
Steven Noel Perkins traded Brent crude futures contracts without client authorization . The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement that it was investigating the matter. The FSA said the trading seems to have been a result of `` extremely heavy drinking '' Perkins was also fined £72,000 ( $ 108,400 ) for market abuse .