Published by Sphere 978-0-7515-6364-1 Copyright © 1996 Nick Leeson The moral right of the author has been asserted New Introduction copyright © 2015 Nick Leeson 2: Press Association, 8: Kevin Phillips, 10: Kevin Phillips, 11: Kevin Phillips, 29: Associated Press/Topham, 30: Rex Features, 31: Paul Massey/FSP, 32: Mirror Syndication International, 33: Dillon Bryden/Sygma London, 36: Press Association, 37: Kevin Phillips All other photographs are from private collections All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher SP H ERE Little, Brown Book Group Carmelite House 50 Victoria Embankment London, EC4Y 0DZ www.littlebrown.co.uk www.hachette.co.uk Reviews for Rogue Trader ‘Ever since [the] spectacular bankruptcy, Leeson has protested that he has been cast as the scapegoat by blundering buffoons, alias the Baring family, their chief executives and senior officials at the Bank of England According to Leeson, he was and remains the victim of the stupidity and greed of his superiors His rollicking autobiography makes a good case for this view’ The Times ‘Extraordinary’ Irish Independent ‘Paints a vivid, plausible picture of an ambitious, good-natured young trader swept up into a web of deceit in the frenetic, unreal world of the Singapore International Monetary Exchange’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Simultaneously entertaining and appalling’ Financial Times ‘Coherent and well written… Often very vivid, not only about the débâcle itself but also about life as a big-ticket trader on the floor of the Singapore International Monetary Exchange’ Daily Telegraph ‘The inside account… Gripping’ The Economist ‘Leeson tells a very human story, and tells it sometimes in the vivid colour of a born writer The publisher’s blurb – “His Own Amazing Story” – is for once amply justified’ Irish Times ‘A graphic eye-opener’ Daily Mail ‘Reads as a real-life adventure story’ Times Literary Supplement ‘It’s got money, it’s got power, it’s got corruption… and if it wasn’t true you could be forgiven for thinking someone with a fertile imagination had dreamt the whole thing up… A cracking good read with a brilliant insight into the world of high-powered banking’ Irish News Nick Leeson now lives peacefully on the West Coast of Ireland with his wife Leona and their three children, Kersty, Alex and Mackensey Nick is an accomplished and sought after Conference and after-dinner speaker and has lectured on a number of University and MBA Business courses www.nickleeson.com live@nmp.co.uk Nick provides consultancy, training, advisory and investigation services through his latest venture, Risk Team Risk Team is a specialist education, advisory and investigation firm which focuses on raising awareness around human behaviour, culture, conduct and corporate governance issues The team of experienced industry practitioners offer the crucial extension to your own resources that every firm needs www.riskteam.com nick.leeson@riskteam.com Table of Contents Reviews for Rogue Trader About the Author COPYRIGHT Epigraph Introduction to the 2015 Edition Preface Epigraph PROLOGUE : A Weekend at Kota Kinabalu 1: The Watford Gap: From Watford to Barings 2: Barings Bank 3: Singapore 17 Rogue trader: me and Ches in SIMEX with Danny 18 On holiday in Australia, January 1994, with Lisa and her brother Alex 19 Australia, January 1994 20 With friends on Lisa’s birthday in August 1994, Singapore 21 ‘You’ve been nicked’ – the cake refers to my run-in with the authorities after the crazy mooning incident, but proved to be sadly prophetic 22 At the time this photo was taken, August 1994, I was sitting on losses of around £80 million 23 The Tokyo trip, 1994: Fernando (left) entertaining geisha girl 24 Me in Tokyo, with souvenir, I was amazed by the Tokyo trip jamboree: it must have cost thousands, but achieved precisely nothing as far as I could see 25 New York, December 1994: (left to right) Maslan, Ches, and Din – the Fat Boy 26 Christmas 1994: in SIMEX with Danny (‘VIZ’) and Ches (‘CNT’) 26 Christmas 1994: in SIMEX with Danny (‘VIZ’) and Ches (‘CNT’) 27 Kota Kinabalu, February 1995 Lisa and I left Singapore on the Thursday, and spent the weekend on the north coast of Borneo I am pictured here on the train which (once it got going again) took us up to the white-water rafting 28 On the river in Borneo, Sunday 26 February 1995 29 Arriving at Frankfurt, Thursday March 1995 By the time we ran the gauntlet of photographers, I’d been allowed to change out of my T-shirt and shorts 30 At Frankfurt, still clutching my trusty Tom Clancy thriller I must have read the book about half a dozen times 31 Peter Norris, former Chief Executive Officer of Baring Securities Limited The Singaporean report refused to accept his version of events, and accused him of being ‘untruthful’ 32 James Bax, former Regional Manager of Barings South Asia, also came under attack His evidence was labeled by the Singaporeans ‘false in material respects’, which led to an adverse inference being drawn against him’ 33 Peter Baring, former Chairman of Barings He was to find out that making money in the securities business is actually terribly difficult 34 Ron Baker, former Head of Barings’ Financial Products Group, with friend on our Tokyo trip He was another of my bosses who resigned after the bank’s collapse 35 In Höchst prison, autumn 1995 36 I arrived at Changi airport, Singapore, on 23 November 1995, having agreed to give up my hopes for extradition to the UK and return to face charges 37 Changi jail, Singapore: the end of the road On December 1995 I was sentenced to spend six and a half years in the Tanah Merah part of the Changi complex ... account… Gripping’ The Economist Leeson tells a very human story, and tells it sometimes in the vivid colour of a born writer The publisher’s blurb – His Own Amazing Story – is for once amply justified’... that are not owned by the publisher SP H ERE Little, Brown Book Group Carmelite House 50 Victoria Embankment London, EC4Y 0DZ www.littlebrown.co.uk www.hachette.co.uk Reviews for Rogue Trader... there.’ I nodded and let him draw his own conclusions ‘It looked that way,’ he smiled with admiration He was another one who’d been fed the Nick Leeson success story in London, and I couldn’t disappoint