Rogue Trader

Nick Leeson

Level 3

Introduction

In the last half hour of trading, the market fell again. I went on to the floor and bought another 1,000 futures. Then the market closed. I walked off the trading floor and smiled at the other traders. I had to escape. I didn't know how. I just knew that I couldn't sleep another night in Singapore.

Money, international business, crime. The story of financial dealer Nick Leeson is difficult to believe. But it's true.

Nick Leeson was an ordinary boy from a town near London. He went into banking and soon became a star trader on the Singapore Futures Market. At first, he made millions of dollars for his employer, Barings Bank. Then he began to lose money. He had to find a way to hide the problem. So the 88888 account was born. As a result, Nick Leeson went to prison and Barings, one of the oldest banks in the City of London, was destroyed.

Nick Leeson ran the Barings Bank futures operation in Singapore from 1992-5. After the failure of the bank, he went to prison in Singapore. Rogue Trader is his story.

Chapter 1 A Weekend in Malaysia

Saturday 25 February 1995

It was my birthday and I was on holiday in Malaysia with my wife Lisa. We planned to take a boat down the river. The boats weren't running and so we went back to our hotel.

Around the hotel swimming pool, I could see the pink bodies of Europeans. They probably worked for banks, law firms or oil companies. I knew what kind of people they were. They liked their beer cold and their women pretty but stupid. They also liked money. I could tell them something about money.

A telephone rang behind me.

'Oh no,' I said, looking around. 'They've found me.'

Then I remembered that my phone was in Singapore. Two days ago, I was in Singapore too. I escaped because I had a terrible secret.

Thursday 23 February 1995

At 2.15 in the afternoon, the Singapore International Money Exchange, SIMEX, closed for business. The screaming and shouting finally ended and I stopped buying. The Japanese stock market went down 330 points. Because I was buying all day, I saved it from a fall of 1,000.

I still lost millions of pounds. I didn't know exactly how many. I didn't want to know. I turned off my computer and sat back. What a terrible day! The market fell all morning when I was buying. Then, when I tried to sell, another person got there first. Now Barings had to pay SIMEX another $40 million. It was too much. I couldn't continue.

I left the trading floor and walked quickly outside. People were looking at me. They wanted to know why I did so much trade. Was it for myself or for Barings customers? Maybe they knew I was in trouble.

I went back to my office. The phone rang. A Japanese newspaper wanted to know more about the day's trading.

'It's OK,' I said and put down the phone.

Two more phones started ringing. I didn't answer them.

Someone from the back office came up and gave me the latest information about account 88888. I was too afraid to look. I knew things were getting worse and worse. I hated to think about the losses.

'Nick!'

I turned around. It was Tony Railton, a manager from the London office.