City banker facing sack after his sexual exploits are e-mailed across the world

Robert Imlah has already been suspended by investment house JP Morgan Cazenove after he sent his friends a string of explicit messages from his computer at the investment bank about a sexual encounter. The 25-year-old corporate finance analyst boasted about sleeping with an unnamed woman and colleagues praised him for it, calling him "Immi the pimp daddy".

The e-mails have caused major embarrassment for the company after being forwarded to thousands of people globally.

Mr Imlah is believed to have been suspended on full pay while bosses decide his future. He could be dismissed from his post, along with the colleagues who were involved in the exchange.

The conversation between Mr Imlah and his friends revolved around a sexual liaison with the woman, who he described as having "huge nails". Mr Imlah then claimed he was meeting another woman he identified as 'Lauren' later that evening and boasted it would be unlikely that he would use any contraception.

The e-mails were forwarded as proof by outraged female recipients that "men are vile". One woman wrote on the e-mail chain sent to offices around the world: "This is just so wrong although apparently totally normal for men's conversations ... they are so going to get fired."

Among the recipients of the forwarded message were colleagues at US parent company JP Morgan, which has strict codes of conduct covering attitudes towards women and minority workers.

JP Morgan Cazenove declined to discuss what measures had been taken against Mr Imlah. But company spokeswoman Tessa Murray said: "We take a very dim view of this kind of thing and we are investigating."

A company insider, however, said: "It was a totally stupid thing to do. The management are not happy at all. He'll be feeling really ashamed of himself right now. I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes. It's fair to say he won't be getting the employee of the month award."

Mr Imlah moved to London from Peterborough, and many of the e-mail's recipients were players from his former amateur football team Whittlesey United.

Whittlesey United team-mate Mario Palazzo said: "I used to see him on the town every Saturday night. He was down there with just one thing on his mind: sex. Rob was always up for the women - he was well known for it."

The company, which has offices around the world, says on its website it is "committed to providing its clients with the highest quality of services based on a deep understanding of their needs which has been built up over many years".

Mr Imlah is believed to have been with JP Morgan Cazenove for less than a year. He is understood to have had no direct contact with clients, but his duties for corporate financiers are regarded as vital to the bank's deal makers. Mr Imlah was unavailable for comment.

The e-mail exchange is the latest in a string of electronic embarrassments for executives. Last year, top-earning lawyer Richard Phillips was branded a skinflint after he sent secretary Jenny Amner a message asking her to pay a 4 cleaning bill after she accidentally spilled tomato sauce on his suit.

And former No 10 media chief Alastair Campbell came under fire after accidentally sending an abusive e-mail to a BBC journalist.

In one of the most widely publicised - and embarrassing - cases, Claire Swire described a sex act in an e-mail to a colleague at a London law firm in 2000. The message from Miss Swire, then 26, was forwarded by colleague Bradley Chait to his friends and the message snowballed.

In October 2002, City worker Trevor Luxton resigned from his job with a top London bank after his lewd e-mail was seen by thousands. In it, he described how a friend's ex-girlfriend performed a sex act on him while he spoke to his own "bored" fiancee on the telephone.