Editing Nick Leeson
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In April 1992, Barings decided to open a Futures and Options office in Singapore, executing and clearing transactions on the [[Singapore International Monetary Exchange]] (SIMEX).<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|author=Floyd Norris|date=31 March 1996|title=Upper-Class Twits Made Me Do It|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/31/books/upper-class-twits-made-me-do-it.html|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-date=28 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828155742/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/31/books/upper-class-twits-made-me-do-it.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Barings had held a seat on SIMEX for some time but did not activate it until Leeson, appointed general manager, was sent to head both front office and back office operations. Prior to leaving, Leeson was denied a [[broker]]'s licence in the UK because of committing fraud on his application, having failed to report a judgment against him entered by the [[NatWest|National Westminster Bank]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Maeda|first=Martha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EuLrXWaOdSIC&pg=PT31|title=The Complete Guide to Spotting Accounting Fraud & Cover-ups|publisher=Atlantic Publishing Company|year=2010|isbn=978-1-60138-212-2|page=31|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811224041/https://books.google.com/books?id=EuLrXWaOdSIC&pg=PT31|url-status=live}}</ref> Neither Leeson nor Barings disclosed this denial when he applied for his licence in Singapore.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hal S. Scott|title=International Finance: Transactions, Policy, and Regulation|publisher=[[Foundation Press]]|year=2006|isbn=978-1-59941-263-4}}</ref> |
In April 1992, Barings decided to open a Futures and Options office in Singapore, executing and clearing transactions on the [[Singapore International Monetary Exchange]] (SIMEX).<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|author=Floyd Norris|date=31 March 1996|title=Upper-Class Twits Made Me Do It|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/31/books/upper-class-twits-made-me-do-it.html|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-date=28 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828155742/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/31/books/upper-class-twits-made-me-do-it.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Barings had held a seat on SIMEX for some time but did not activate it until Leeson, appointed general manager, was sent to head both front office and back office operations. Prior to leaving, Leeson was denied a [[broker]]'s licence in the UK because of committing fraud on his application, having failed to report a judgment against him entered by the [[NatWest|National Westminster Bank]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Maeda|first=Martha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EuLrXWaOdSIC&pg=PT31|title=The Complete Guide to Spotting Accounting Fraud & Cover-ups|publisher=Atlantic Publishing Company|year=2010|isbn=978-1-60138-212-2|page=31|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811224041/https://books.google.com/books?id=EuLrXWaOdSIC&pg=PT31|url-status=live}}</ref> Neither Leeson nor Barings disclosed this denial when he applied for his licence in Singapore.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hal S. Scott|title=International Finance: Transactions, Policy, and Regulation|publisher=[[Foundation Press]]|year=2006|isbn=978-1-59941-263-4}}</ref> |
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From 1992, Leeson made unauthorised [[speculation|speculative]] trades that initially made large profits for Barings: £10 million, which accounted for 10% of Barings' annual profit.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 March 2011|title=Nick Leeson: biography part I|url=http://www.nickleeson.com/biography/full_biography.html|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-date=5 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205154901/http://www.nickleeson.com/biography/full_biography.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He earned a bonus of £130,000 on his salary of £50,000 for that year. Leeson used one of Barings' [[error account]]s (accounts used to correct mistakes made in trading) to hide his losses.<ref>{{cite news|date=22 June 1999|title=How Leeson broke the bank|publisher=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/375259.stm|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-date=25 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825213649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/375259.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=16 February 1996|title=How account 88888 sank Britain's oldest bank|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/how-account-88888-sank-britains-oldest-bank-1319275.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/how-account-88888-sank-britains-oldest-bank-1319275.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}</ref> He later stated that this account was first used to hide an error made by a |
From 1992, Leeson made unauthorised [[speculation|speculative]] trades that initially made large profits for Barings: £10 million, which accounted for 10% of Barings' annual profit.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 March 2011|title=Nick Leeson: biography part I|url=http://www.nickleeson.com/biography/full_biography.html|access-date=23 February 2012|archive-date=5 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205154901/http://www.nickleeson.com/biography/full_biography.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He earned a bonus of £130,000 on his salary of £50,000 for that year. Leeson used one of Barings' [[error account]]s (accounts used to correct mistakes made in trading) to hide his losses.<ref>{{cite news|date=22 June 1999|title=How Leeson broke the bank|publisher=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/375259.stm|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-date=25 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825213649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/375259.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=16 February 1996|title=How account 88888 sank Britain's oldest bank|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/how-account-88888-sank-britains-oldest-bank-1319275.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/how-account-88888-sank-britains-oldest-bank-1319275.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}</ref> He later stated that this account was first used to hide an error made by a subordinates who had been assigned to buy twenty [[futures contract]]s for [[Fuji Bank]] but sold them instead, costing Barings £20,000.<ref>{{cite news|date=24 February 1996|title=The man who broke the queen's bank|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-man-who-broke-the-queen-s-bank-1.31807|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-date=11 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211233113/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-man-who-broke-the-queen-s-bank-1.31807|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=19 August 2012|title=Barings rogue trader Nick Leeson: 'Money is not my motivation'|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/9483379/Barings-rogue-trader-Nick-Leeson-Money-is-not-my-motivation.html|access-date=6 September 2018|archive-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906233651/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/9483379/Barings-rogue-trader-Nick-Leeson-Money-is-not-my-motivation.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RogueTrader">{{cite book|last1=Leeson|first1=Nick|title=[[Rogue Trader (book)|Rogue Trader]]: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World|last2=Whitley|first2=Edward|year=1996|isbn=0-316-51856-5|page=}}{{page?|date=August 2021}}</ref> |
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Leeson used this error account to cover further bad trades by himself and others. For example, he used it to cover mistakes made by one of his traders who frequently came to work after long nights of partying. Leeson believes that he first crossed into out-and-out criminal conduct when he forgot to reconcile a discrepancy of 500 contracts, costing Barings US$1.7 million. He concluded that the only way to hide such a massive error and keep his job was to hide it in the error account.<ref name=RogueTrader/> Leeson insists that he never used the account for his own gain, but in 1996 investigators had located approximately $35 million in various bank accounts tied to him.<ref name="nytimes" /> |
Leeson used this error account to cover further bad trades by himself and others. For example, he used it to cover mistakes made by one of his traders who frequently came to work after long nights of partying. Leeson believes that he first crossed into out-and-out criminal conduct when he forgot to reconcile a discrepancy of 500 contracts, costing Barings US$1.7 million. He concluded that the only way to hide such a massive error and keep his job was to hide it in the error account.<ref name=RogueTrader/> Leeson insists that he never used the account for his own gain, but in 1996 investigators had located approximately $35 million in various bank accounts tied to him.<ref name="nytimes" /> |