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Rogue trader Nick Leeson: There will be more financial scandals while people go unpunished
Infamous trader speaks out on 20th anniversary of the collapse of Barings Bank
PUBLISHED : Friday, 27 February, 2015, 11:41am
UPDATED : Friday, 27 February, 2015, 2:52pm
Twenty years after he brought down one of the world’s oldest banks, Rogue Trader Nick Leeson believes the ills of the financial sector are simply “not fixable”.
Leeson was the junior derivatives trader who gambled and lost HK$9.93 billion causing the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank and earning him a lengthy jail term.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, the man who came to be the embodiment of the flawed financial wheeler-dealer claimed little of the “culture” that has brought shame on the financial sector in recent years has changed.
And despite numerous breaches of regulations and the global crash of 2007 Leeson is convinced many more scandals lie ahead.
But, unlike the UK and USA, he believes both Hong Kong and Singapore are better placed than other markets to avoid such wrongdoing. Traders in the two Asia’s banking hubs are less likely to bend the rules as they under they will face the full force of law, Leeson said.
He will be back in Hong Kong - his favourite holiday destination - in early May as a speaker at two conferences. Leeson admits he will take a look at some of his old haunts to see how things here have changed too.
And he is quick to challenge attempts by HSBC chiefs to wash their hands of responsibility over accusations the bank help people evade tax.
“The reality is if they can get away with it then some people will still do whatever they think will make them money,” he said. “While people go unpunished it will happen again and again.”
The reality is if they can get away with it then some people will still do whatever they think will make them money
“The problem in the UK and Ireland no one seems to know what the rules really are. That isn’t the case in Singapore and Hong Kong because there the repercussions are more severe.
“If you know there are adequate deterrents, are you going to break the rules? I very much doubt it!”
Back in 1992 Leeson was made general manager of a new operation in futures markets on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) despite being denied a UK broker’s licence.
At first his unauthorised and fraudulent speculation made large profits, accounting for 10 per cent of Barings’ annual profit in his first year.
On top of his salary of £50,000 he pocketed a £130,000 bonus and he enjoyed spending it. He’d fly to Hong Kong with his glamorous wife Lisa to enjoy the delights the “colony” offered and blew thousands in Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fong.
But he started to lose and lose big. The house of cards finally came crashing down on 16th January 1995 after Leeson gambled there would be little movement on the Japanese Nikkei 250. But nature had played her hand in a devastating way when an earthquake hit the city of Kobe.
After leaving a note which read “I’m sorry”, he fled on February 23rd to Malaysia, then Thailand, and finally Germany, where he was arrested in Frankfurt and extradited back to Singapore in November 1995.
After admitting his guilt he was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in the notorious Changi Prison. While inside he published an autobiography, Rogue Trader, which was made into the film of the same name starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel.
He was released early in 1999, after being diagnosed with colon cancer. His wife also divorced him saying she could not live with the way he deceived her too.
Now, years after he became notorious around the globe, the 48-year-old admits his “life is certainly a lot different”.
“The day it all began falling apart was my birthday, so ironically I celebrate it every year,” he said. “To me this was no different than any other year.”
So what has changed in the intervening years? “Quite simply the evidence suggests not a great deal,” he said.
“There’s a real contempt for the regulators in many countries and I think the problems within the sector, well, I just don’t think they’re fixable.”
Since Leeson’s fall from grace there have been other high-profile cases resulting in prison sentences for traders like Jerome Kerviel in France and UBS employee Kweku Adoboli in England.
Meanwhile billions have been paid out in fines for a string of scandals from rate rigging to mis-selling products.
“There’s been a lot of focus on the individuals that have committed the crimes, and they are crimes, there’s no way of excusing that,” Leeson said.
“But there have been huge fines and rebukes. And it’s not working. I think it’s inevitable that it will happen again.
“When I was working in banking there was always of reputational damage and risk. But that does not exist anymore.There are no consequences to people’s actions."
Looking back at his time in Singapore he admits had he known the punishment he could face he would have done things very differently
“When you are in a different environment, there’s a different set of rules. I genuinely did not know the consequences of my actions until it was too late,” he said.
“If that had been made clear I would have held my hands up earlier and asked for help.”
Last week HSBC group chief executive Stuart Gulliver and chairman Douglas Flint appeared in London to apologise for “unacceptable practices”.
Mr Gulliver has claimed he could not know what everyone of more than 250,000 staff around the world is doing.
Leeson said: “He’s right, he can’t be held accountable for the actions of every member of staff across the world. But he is accountable for the culture within the organisation. Distain and contempt for the authorities is part of the culture.”
Now earning a living with his after dinner and keynote speeches, Leeson is barred from returning to Singapore - it’s a ban he “would not want to test”.
Today he lives near Galway, Ireland, with his second wife, Leona, and their three children. He no longer has the debt collectors chasing him
“You move on, my life is very different now, it’s family orientated. It was very different 20 years ago. I’m in a better place,” he said.
“Back then it was easy to be swayed by the bright lights and opportunities of places like Singapore and Hong Kong.
“I make no excuses about what I did, it was wrong and I feel remorse. But I am no crook and was just trying to put things right.”
'The reality is if they can get away with it then some people will still do whatever they think will make them money', says Nick Leeson. Photo: Handout