Nicholas William Lesson, better known as Nick Lesson. He was a British trader who became infamous for causing the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995, the oldest bank in the United Kingdom.
Professional Career
Born in Watford, England, on February 25, 1967, Lesson began his career in banking without a college education. He worked for Coutts, Morgan Stanley, and finally joined Barings Brothers in 1989. In 1992, he was appointed general manager of futures trading at the Singapore International Money Exchange (SIMEX).
The Fraud
Initially, “Lesson” generated large profits for Barings by investing in Japanese Nikkei index futures, earning £10 million (10% of the bank's annual profits). However, to hide losses from failed trades, he created the error account 88888.
The breaking point came on January 17, 1995, when the Kobe earthquake caused Asian markets and his trading positions to crash. In a desperate attempt to recover, “Lesson” made increasingly risky trades, but the losses reached £827 million ($1.4 billion), double the bank's available capital.
Conclusion
After reading this article, where I got the image for the graphic, I went to read about who “Lesson” was, as I didn't know this story. Once I had read the information I am sharing in this post, I thought about how easy and brazen bankers' management is.
After bankrupting the bank, this man fled and left only a letter saying “I'm sorry.” And although he was later captured, I think a sentence of only six and a half years is extremely ridiculous for the magnitude of his actions.
Even more incredible to me is what happened next: he was released due to a medical condition and today he is a motivational speaker and even inspired a movie.
Even more illogical to me is the fact that he teaches others how to trade.
The Fiat financial world is an illusion and is full of bad actors who end up being revered for their wrongful actions.
I made a mistake when publishing and did not realize that some of the information was left out of the publication, so I am attaching it here.I made a mistake when publishing and did not realize that some of the information was left out of the publication, so I am attaching it here.
Consequences
On February 23, 1995, “Lesson” fled, leaving a note that said “I'm sorry.” Barings Bank was declared insolvent on February 26 and sold to ING for £1. “Lesson” was arrested in Germany, extradited to Singapore, and sentenced to six and a half years in prison, although he was released in 1999 after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
Later life
He wrote his autobiography, Rogue Trader, in 1996, which was made into a movie in 1999 starring Ewan McGregor. He currently lives in Ireland and works as a motivational speaker and trading educator.
Source: Wikipedia.
The bank should also have been held accountable for not supervising him or putting controls on leverage and capital reserves
I completely agree, but it's no longer a secret that banks operate irresponsibly. There are many other cases just like this one.