Nick Leeson

Nick Leeson is the infamous rogue trader who, in 1995, broke Barings Bank. The collapse of the bank and his role in it remains one of the most spectacular debacles in modern financial history.

Consequently, he has become one of the most sought-after names on the global keynote speaking circuit. How could one trader, a then-ambitious 25 years old investment broker, bring down the banking empire that funded the Napoleonic Wars and counted HM The Queen as a customer?

The young gambler who found himself sucked into a terrifying spiral of loss was a working-class boy from Watford, north London, who lived out of his depth, high in an upper-class world, until his unchecked gambling caused the downfall of Barings Bank and chaos throughout the Singaporean money market.

Sentenced to six and a half years for forgery and cheating, he spent four and a half of those incarcerated at Tanah Merah, the Triad gang-ridden Singaporean prison where he was locked up 23 hours a day in 100+ degree heat and treacherous conditions. On July 3rd 1999, Nick was released early on compassionate grounds, due to battling cancer of the colon, and extradited to the UK. At the time, his oncologist’s prognosis gave him a 60% chance of surviving another five years.

More recent cases such as Allied Irish Banks (2002), Societe Générale (2008), UBS (2011) and FTX (2022) simply highlight that loopholes haven't been closed. During an exclusive interview about the Societe Générale scandal, for BBC News, Nick commented "I think rogue trading is probably a daily occurrence amongst the financial markets. Not enough focus goes on those risk management areas, those compliance areas, those settlement areas, that can ultimately save them money."

Despite more audacious and larger scale incidents of rogue trading since the collapse of Barings, Nick Leeson remains the most infamous and high-profile.

The late Sir David Frost, media mogul and broadcaster who interviewed Nick Leeson in a Frankfurt prison while awaiting extradition to Singapore, optioned the rights to his story. In 1999, Hollywood movie Rogue Trader was released as a dramatisation of the events and starred Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, Trainspotting) as Nick with Anna Friel (Marcella, A Midsummer Night's Dream) portraying his then-wife, Lisa.

At conferences, seminars and dinners with Nick Leeson as the keynote or after dinner speaker, his insight into company culture, accountability, ethics and risk management represents a unique opportunity to hear from the main protagonist in the 20th century’s most significant financial scandal.

He speaks regularly to companies and organisations from all industries and corporate sectors, including educational facilities such as MBA business schools and universities, providing a fascinating insight into the continuing failures of senior and middle management at large corporations, around the world, who still fail to adequately protect shareholders and customers.

It also features a number of human-interest angles that will astound any audience, ensuring his talks are far from restricted to the world of suits and power lunches that he used to frequent in the early 1990s.

Nick Leeson speaks regularly around the world to companies and organisations from all industries and corporate sectors including financial institutions, insurance companies, aerospace, the retail sector, law firms, media organisations, security firms, the IT sector and educational facilities including MBA business schools and universities.

“The Failings of Barings Bank - Risk, Compliance & Transparency; How It Is Still Relevant Today?”
Following the worst global recession on record and in the aftermath of the AIB trading scandal in New York, together with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Enron and Worldcom, Nick Leeson provides a fascinating insight into the continuing failures of senior and middle management at large corporations around the world who still fail to adequately protect shareholders and customers.

Topics covered by Nick Leeson within his standard presentation include:
• Risk Management
• Organisational Culture
• Corporate Responsibility & Governance
• Compliance, Control and Transparency
• Communication and Information Sharing

Themes include:
• Knowledge is Nothing Without Understanding
• Transparency Will Outlast Charisma - The ‘Celebrity’ Culture
• Technology - Focus on Analysis and Correlation, Not Just Alerts
• Information to Safeguard is Always there, it’s Just Whether or Not You Use it

“Rogue Trading: My Story - An Insider's Perspective by Nick Leeson”
When a keynote speech is a little on the heavy side, Nick Leeson offers an after dinner presentation which is his own personal story and account of the collapse of Barings Bank.

It also features a number of human-interest angles that will astound any audience, ensuring his talks are far from restricted to the world of suits and power lunches that he used to frequent in the early 1990s.

Nick speaks openly and candidly about Barings Bank and the lack of accounting safeguards that ultimately led to the bank’s collapse, his capture and confinement for nine months in a Frankfurt prison before being extradited and sentenced by the Singapore court for forgery and cheating. It includes his personal account of spending four and a half years in a gang-ridden Singaporean Jail, the stress of going through divorce and beating colon cancer whilst still in jail and in treacherous conditions.

Where conditions and time allow, Nick often incorporates video clips into both his keynote and after dinner speeches. These contain a mix of real-life interviews with the Barings management following the collapse, news reports at the time from around the world and also extracts from the 1999 Hollywood movie and dramatisation of Nick’s book Rogue Trader starring Ewan McGregor.

Exclusive interview with Nick Leeson

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Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Nick Leeson. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.