Nick Leeson

Filed Under » , , , ,
Dictionary Says

Definition of 'Nick Leeson'

A former manager with England’s Barings Bank, Leeson became a rogue trader while heading up the company’s Singapore division in the early 1990s. After originally earning massive profits for Barings via several unauthorized trades in 1992, Leeson eventually lost over $1 billion in company capital while hiding the losses in a little-used errors account that was hidden from his superiors. Most of the rogue trades occurred in the futures market, where his losses multiplied quickly in the final weeks before he fled his office.

Investopedia Says

Investopedia explains 'Nick Leeson'

Leeson was later arrested and served six years in a Singapore prison. His trading losses single-handedly brought down Barings Bank, the first investment bank founded in England. The firm was declared insolvent less than a week after Leeson’s trading losses were discovered.

Many lessons were learned about internal controls and trade auditing as a result of Mr. Leeson’s rogue trading. As has been seen before, a trader trying to hide losses will tend to risk more in an attempt to right the initial wrongs. Lesson’s trading losses were originally just under $200 million, but they skyrocketed to over $1 billion when he made a risky futures bet in the hopes of evening out prior losses.
Search results for

'Nick Leeson'

  • How did derivatives trader Nick Leeson contribute to the fall of ...

    http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/nick-leeson-barings-bank.asp
    ... How did derivatives trader Nick Leeson contribute to the fall of Barings
    Bank? When an earthquake shook Kobe, Japan in 1995, it ...

  • 10 Biggest Losers In Finance Slideshow | Investopedia

    http://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/biggest-losers-in-finance
    ... Nick Leeson: Lost $1.3 Billion. Nick Leeson is one of the most famous rogue
    traders of all time. In 1992, Leeson was a 28-year-old ...

  • Trading's 6 Biggest Losers

    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/08/rogue-traders.asp
    ... public losses. Nick and the Nikkei - $1.3 Billion Nick Leeson is probably
    the most famous rogue trader in the world. He even wrote ...

  • 3 Worst Rogue Traders In History - Investopedia.com

    http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1011/3-Worst-Rogue-Traders-In-History.aspx
    ... Barings Bank Nick Leeson, arguably the most famous rogue trader in history,
    brought down one of the grandest names in British banking. ...

  • The Rise Of The Rogue Trader - Investopedia.com

    http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1011/The-Rise-Of-The-Rogue-Trader.aspx
    ... Exchange. In 1995, Nick Leeson incurred a $1.4-billion loss for Barings bank
    that brought down the centuries-old institution. Trader ...

  • How To Prevent Rogue Trading - Investopedia.com

    http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1011/How-To-Prevent-Rogue-Trading.aspx
    ... kind. In 1995, Nick Leeson, a rogue trader was responsible for the bankruptcy
    of Barings, one of Great Britain's oldest banks. Fortunately ...

  • Who set the record loss for "rogue traders"?

    http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/rogue-trader-kerviel.asp
    ... With losses topping out at $7.1 billion, Jerome Kerviel better than tripled the
    trading losses of rogue trader Nick Leeson – one of the best-known rogue ...

  • Forex Frequently Asked Questions | Investopedia

    http://www.investopedia.com/ask/forex/
    ... View Answer; How often do exchange rates fluctuate? View Answer; How did derivatives
    trader Nick Leeson contribute to the fall of Barings Bank? View Answer; ...

  • Forex Frequently Asked Questions | Investopedia

    http://www.investopedia.com/ask/forex
    ... View Answer; How often do exchange rates fluctuate? View Answer; How did derivatives
    trader Nick Leeson contribute to the fall of Barings Bank? View Answer; ...

  • How did currency trader John Rusnak hide $691 million in losses ...

    http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/john-rusnak.asp
    ... matter. Allied Irish's stock fell sharply, but it proved more robust than
    Barings had been after the Nick Leeson scandal. John Rusnak ...

Related Articles

Trading Center
Partner Links