Nick Leeson

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Career

Barings opened a Future and Options office in Singapore in April 1992, executing and clearing transactions on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX). Barings had been sitting on SIMEX for some time, but didn't get it working until Leeson, the company's new general manager, was sent to oversee both front office and back office operations. Leeson was refused a broker's licence in the United Kingdom prior to his departure due to fraud on his application. He had failed to announce a decision against him at the National Westminster Bank, which had been dismissed by the National Westminster Bank. When he applied for his licence in Singapore, neither Leeson nor Barings revealed that they had been denied.

Leeson made unauthorised speculation trades that at first made major profits for Barings: £10 million, which accounted for 10% of Barings' annual income. For the year, he received a £30,000 bonus on his salary of £50,000. Leeson's fortune soon turned sour, and he used one of Barings' error accounts (accounts used to correct mistakes made in trading) to mask his losses. He claims that this account was used to mask an error committed by one of his subordinates; she had been promised to purchase twenty futures contracts for Fuji Bank but then had to sell them, costing Baring Barings £20,000.

However, Leeson used this wrong account to fund more bad trades by himself and others. For example, he used it to cover a string of mistakes made by one of his traders who often returned to work after long nights of partying. Leeson says he first entered out-and-out criminal activity after he failed to resolve a discrepancy of 500 employees, costing Barings US$1.7 million. He found that the only way to avoid such a big mistake and keep his jobs was to hide it in the error account. Leeson denies that he ever used the account for his own gain, but that investigators in 1996 discovered over $35 million in various bank accounts linked to him.

The error account's losses by the end of 1992 had more than doubled, boosting to £23 million in late 1993. By the time of 1994, the figure had risen to £208 million. Leeson's tactic was to double the amount lost in order to recover the money. This had been profitable for him in the past, including once in 1993 when he was able to settle a £6 million negative balance in the error account, but after which he promised not to use the account again. However, Leeson had to maintain his image as a trade genius, and he soon found himself concealing his losses there again. Leeson concocted cover stories to explain why he needed more cash from London; his sterling fame shielded him from close scrutiny as the numbers grew higher and higher.

On 16 January 1995, Leeson anchored a brief straddle in the Singapore and Tokyo stock exchanges, effectively guaranteeing that the Japanese stock market would not move much overnight. However, the Great Hanshin earthquake struck early in the morning on January 17th, bringing Asian markets and Leeson's trading positions into a tailspin. Leeson tried to recover his losses by making a series of increasingly risky new trades (using a long-awaited arbitrage), this time hoping that the Nikkei Stock Average would see a quick recovery. The revival, on the other hand, was unable to materialize.

On February 23, Leeson left a note with the words "I'm sorry" and fled Singapore. Barings' total trading capital reached £827 million (US$1.4 billion), twice Barings' available trading capital. Barings, the UK's oldest merchant bank, was declared insolvent on February 26 following a failed bailout attempt. Leeson was arrested in Frankfurt and extradited back to Singapore on November 20, 1995, after fleeing to Malaysia, Thailand, and eventually Germany.

Leeson pleaded guilty to two charges of "deceive the bank's auditors and of frauding the Singapore exchange," as well as forging records. Judge Richard Magnus, who found Leeson, has ordered Leeson to six and a half years in Changi Prison in Singapore. Leeson was released in July 1999 after serving at least two-thirds of his term (4 years and four months) for good conduct and being diagnosed with colon cancer, which he beat despite dire predictions at the time. Rogue Trader, Leeson's autobiography, chronicling his activities, was released in 1996. "This is a dreary book written by a young man who took with himself," a New York Times research said, "but banking executives and auditors should read it all." The book was turned into a film starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel in 1999. The events also formed the subject of Adam Curtis' 1996 television documentary titled Inside Story Special: £830,000,000 – Nick Leeson and the Fall of Barings.

Leeson obtained a BSc in Psychology at Middlesex University in 2003 and married Leona Tormay, an Irish beautician. In 2019, he is a celebrity on the after-dinner and keynote speaking circuits, saying that "two events a month are enough to hold me in the manner to which I'm used." Leeson is still dealing in stock exchanges, but only with his own money.

Leeson was named as the Galway United F.C.'s commercial manager. In April 2005, he took over as the general manager, but in November 2005, he took over the role. He had been the club's chief executive officer by July 2007, having been promoted to chief executive officer by that time. He resigned his position in February 2011, after the club faced financial difficulties, in February 2011.

Leeson wrote a new book in June 2005, Back from the Brink: Coping With Stress. It picks up Rogue Trader's tale in the form of in-depth discussions with psychologist Ivan Tyrrell, which is where Rogue Trader left off. He appeared on TV3 in 2013 as the Celebrity Apprentice Ireland.

The Straits Times, Singapore's national daily newspaper, published an e-book titled Guilty As Charged: 25 Crimes That Shaken Singapore Since 1965, which included the Nick Leeson case as one of the top 25 offences that shocked the nation since its independence in 1965. The book was born as a result of collaboration between the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Newspaper Company. The paperback book was first published in late June 2017 and appeared on the bookshelves for the first time. The paperback version made it into the ST bestseller list on August 8, 2017, a month after its initial launch.

The Guardian announced on April 5th, 2007 that KPMG, Barings' liquidators, had sold a trading jacket that may have been worn by Leeson when trading on SIMEX in Singapore. The jacket was listed on eBay, but despite a high bid of £16,100, it did not sell at reserve price. It was later sold for £21,000. In October 2007, a similar jacket used by Leeson's crew but not believed to have been worn by Leeson himself went to auction for £4,000.

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