Article Abstract:
Barings trader Nick Leeson, who headed the bank's futures trading activities in Singapore, was able to deceive his superiors at the bank's head office in London. He gave the impression that large profit levels were being achieved, while in fact he had invented transactions and clients in order to cover losses and deceive others into thinking that risks had been hedged. Eventually, other traders became suspicious, but Leeson had then disappeared and it was too late to save Barings from collapse.
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Article Abstract:
Nick Leeson, the trader whose activities in Singapore brought about the collapse of merchant bank Barings, built up an enormous volume of trading. It is thought that many of the Nikkei futures contracts he generated in recent weeks were invented to disguise the increasing gap between the purchase price and the current market price of his contracts. He was able to receive assistance from accomplices in the back office to set up many fictitious client accounts.
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Article Abstract:
Nick Leeson, identified as the rogue Barings dealer who undertook unauthorised trades in the futures market, has disappeared. The losses could eventually be much higher than the current figure of at least 600 million pounds sterling, as it is not yet clear whether all the trades have been closed out. The case brings to light disturbing evidence about how easy it is for one person to bring down a powerful financial institution.
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