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Nick Leeson:
Then and Now
By John Dickson
+plus magazine
Issue 16, September 2000
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E F O R E |
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WORKED
FOR BARINGS BANK, ENGLANDS OLDEST BANK. |
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AS
A RELATIVELY YOUNG AND UNPROVEN ACCOUNTS CLERK, HE WENT TO
BARINGS' SINGAPORE OFFICE IN 1992, AND WITHIN A YEAR HAD MADE
$15 MILLION, ABOUT 10% OF BARING'S PROFIT FOR THAT YEAR. |
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IN
1994, HIS LUCK BEGAN TO RUN OUT, AND THE MARKETS TURNED AGAINST
HIIM, LOSING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. |
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IN
1995, HIS LOSSES AMOUNTED TO £830 MILLION AND BARINGS
FACED COLLAPSE. |
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MANY EXECUTIVES WHO WERE INVOLVED
IN THE FAILURE TO CONTROL LEESON EITHER RESIGNED OR WERE SACKED. |
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AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF LOSING
$1.2 BILLION, NICK WAS SENTENCED TO SIX AND
A HALF YEARS BY A SINGAPORE COURT FOR FORGERY AND CHEATING. |
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 A
F T E R |
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BARINGS BANK CRASHED AND WAS SOLD TO A DUTCH BANK FOR $1. |
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NICK WAS RELEASED EARLY
FROM JAIL IN JULY 1999, ON THE GROUNDS OF GOOD BEHAVIOR. HE
WAS SOON EARNING BIG FROM APPEARANCES AT CONFERENCES AND ON
TELEVISION. |
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HE WROTE THE BOOK "ROGUE
TRADER" ABOUT HIS EXPLOITS, WHICH WAS LATER TURNED INTO
A FILM STARRING EWAN MCGREGOR AND ANNA FRIEL. |
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NICK NOW HAS A PSYCHOLOGY
DEGREE AFTER STUDYING AT MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY |
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HE WAS TREATED FOR COLON
CANCER, BUT HAS MADE A FULL RECOVERY AND IN 2003, MARRIED AN
IRISH BEAUTICIAN. |
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NICK IS AVAILABLE FOR AFTER-DINNER
SPEAKING, WHERE HE TALKS ABOUT THE COLLAPSE OF BARINGS, HIS
TIME IN PRISON AND HIS FIGHT AGAINST CANCER. |
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I D Y O U K N O W ? |
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AT
THE HEIGHT OF HIS SUCCESS WITH BARINGS, HE RECEIVED A BONUS
OF $200,000 ON TOP OF HIS $75,000 SALARY. |
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BARINGS
BANK WAS 233 YEARS OLD WHEN IT CRASHED. |
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