In 1995, Leeson made unauthorized trades that resulted in losses of over $1.4 billion, ultimately leading to the collapse of Barings Bank.
Leeson was born in Watford, England in 1967. He began his career in finance as a clerk at Coutts, a private bank in London.
In 1992, Leeson was hired by Barings Bank to work in its Singapore office as a futures trader.
Leeson made a series of risky trades in futures contracts on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX). These trades resulted in losses that he tried to cover up by placing even more risky trades.
The losses eventually became too large to cover up, and Barings Bank collapsed in 1995. Leeson fled Singapore but was arrested in Germany a few days later.
Leeson was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to six and a half years in prison. He was released in 1999 after serving four years.
The collapse of Barings Bank was one of the most significant financial scandals of the 20th century and had a major impact on the financial industry.
Leeson's story was the subject of a book and a movie, both titled "Rogue Trader."
Leeson has since become a public speaker and has written a book about his experiences and the lessons he learned from the collapse of Barings Bank.
So how did Leeson fool the management and hide his fraudulent activities for so long? There are a few key factors that contributed to his ability to do so:
- Leeson had a high level of responsibility and was given a great deal of autonomy in his role as a trader. He was able to make trades without much oversight, and he used this freedom to cover up his losses.
- Leeson used a number of tactics to hide his losses, including creating fake accounts and using "back-to-back" trades to obscure the true nature of his activities.
- He also took advantage of the fact that the bank's management was not closely monitoring his activities. This allowed him to continue trading without being detected for a significant period of time.
- Leeson was able to fool the management by presenting them with false information about his trades and the profits he was generating. He used this information to create the appearance of success, even as he was actually incurring huge losses.
- Finally, Leeson was able to exploit the bank's trust in him, as he had been a successful trader in the past and had built up a reputation as a reliable employee.
Overall, Leeson was able to fool the management of Barings Bank by taking advantage of his autonomy, using various tactics to hide his losses, and exploiting the trust that the bank had placed in him. His actions ultimately led to the collapse of one of the oldest and most respected banks in the world.
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