Compliance Speaker Nick Leeson

In the mid-1980s, Nick Leeson got a job as a clerk with Royal Bank Coutts, followed by various positions at other banks, culminating at Barings, where he quickly made an impression and was promoted to the trading floor.

Soon, Nick was appointed manager of a new operation in futures markets on the Singapore Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) and was soon making millions for Barings by betting on the future direction of the Nikkei Index.

His bosses back in London, pleased with his large profits, trusted the whiz kid. Leeson and his wife Lisa seemed to have it all: a salary of £50,000 with bonuses of up to £150,000, weekends in exotic places, a smart apartment, frequent parties, and to top it all off, they seemed very much in love.

Barings wasn't aware that it was exposed to any losses because Leeson claimed he was executing purchase orders on behalf of a client. What the company didn’t realize was that it was responsible for the 88888 error account, where Leeson hid all of his losses. This account had been set up to cover an inexperienced team member's mistake, which led to a loss of £20,000. Leeson now used this account to cover his own mounting losses.

As the losses grew, Leeson requested additional funds to continue trading, hoping to dig himself out by making more deals. Over three months, he bought more than 20,000 futures contracts worth about $180,000 each, in a futile attempt to move the market. Approximately three-quarters of the $1.3 billion he lost for Barings resulted from these trades.

When Barings executives discovered what had happened, they informed the Bank of England that Barings was effectively bust. In his wake, Nick Leeson had wiped out the 233-year-old Barings investment Bank, which proudly counted HM The Queen as a client. The $1.3 billion in liabilities he had run up was more than the entire capital and reserves of the bank.

Eventually arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, Nick spent a few tense months trying to escape extradition to Singapore. He failed, and in December 1995, a court in Singapore sentenced him to six and a half years in prison. His wife Lisa got a job as a flight attendant to be able to visit him regularly.

At first, their marriage survived the strain of being apart, but she eventually divorced him. Within months, Leeson was diagnosed with colon cancer. His weight plummeted, and most of his hair fell out from chemotherapy.

Finally released in 1999, and despite his return to the UK bringing the realization that the high life had been swept away—he was effectively homeless and without a job—Nick enjoyed a fairly hedonistic first year seeing friends and family while also continuing his cancer treatment.

Nick Leeson has proven his resilience and has been able to capitalize on his experiences. He was paid a substantial fee for the newspaper serialization of his book in The Mail. The story was then turned into a film, Rogue Trader, starring Ewan McGregor. In 2001, he undertook a Psychology degree and now spends his time delivering conference and keynote talks to companies and engaging in after-dinner speaking based on his life experiences.

With a psychology degree and a second marriage to Irish beautician Leona Tormay, (along with her children Kersty and Alex), they were delighted when, in 2004, Leona gave birth to a baby boy. Nick comments, “I’m of the mindset that cancer must not take you over and control your life.

I do believe that the more positive you are, the greater your chance of survival.” His advice to others is never to bottle up stress as he himself did: “You need to talk and express yourself as I now do to Leona. With cancer as with other problems, it’s amazing how adaptable human beings are, and you can cope provided you keep a strong frame of mind.”

In April 2005, Nick was appointed Commercial Manager of Galway United Football Club, rising to the position of General Manager in late November 2005. The same year, Nick published his second book, Back from the Brink: Coping with Stress, co-written with psychologist Ivan Tyrell. In July 2007, he was appointed CEO of the football club, where he remained until his resignation in February 2011.

Speaker Topics:

Topics covered by Nick Leeson in his standard presentation include:

• Risk Management
• Corporate Responsibility and Governance
• Compliance, Control, and Transparency
• Managing Change and Consolidation
• Importance of Communication and Information Sharing
• Knowledge is Nothing Without Understanding
• Creating the Right Culture in the Organization
• 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

Conference and Keynote Speaking:

At the heart of Nick Leeson’s presentations is his personal story surrounding the collapse of Barings Bank. He speaks openly and candidly about the culture that existed at the time and the lack of accounting safeguards that ultimately led to the bank’s collapse. With so many facets to his story, Nick always works with the client to tailor his talk and make it relevant to the audience, focusing on the key topics and areas of interest.

Key themes include:

• Conduct
• Compliance, Control, and Transparency
• Risk Management
• Ethics
• Corporate Responsibility and Governance
• Organization and Company Culture

Addressing conferences, seminars, and summits on all continents gives Nick a unique insight and global perspective on the issues affecting business and organizations today. He incorporates this into his own story and presentations, keeping his talks up-to-date and relevant.

Stress, Wellbeing and Mental Health:

The importance of addressing stress, wellbeing, and mental health in the workplace is crucial. When hosting events around these issues, clients are often looking for real stories to engage their audience and bring these issues to life. Nick Leeson’s story is a fascinating account.

From the moment he opened the infamous ‘88888’ error account, Nick bore the weight of his mounting losses for three years—hiding his actions from colleagues, friends, family, and even his wife. Once his actions came to light, to avoid facing trial in Singapore, Nick fled to Europe.

He was captured in Frankfurt and spent 9 months in prison fighting the extradition process. He was eventually sent back to face trial in Singapore, where he was sentenced to six years in prison. He subsequently spent four and a half years in a gang-ridden Singapore jail, locked up for 23 hours a day in conditions that defy belief, and at times contemplated suicide.

While in prison, he was treated for colon cancer, which Nick now believes was triggered by the immense stresses at the time. He also had to deal with divorce from his then-wife, Lisa. All of this happened before his 33rd birthday. Fortunately, Nick Leeson came out the other side and created a new life for himself.

Shortly after his release, in an effort to understand his motivation and come to terms with his actions, Nick studied for a degree in psychology.

Then, in 2005, he teamed up with renowned psychologist Ivan Tyrell to co-author Back From The Brink: Coping with Stress, and show how the continual levels of high stress that affected Nick’s own mental and physical health can relate to us all. Through a series of in-depth conversations, the book addresses topics including living with relationship and family problems; struggling with debt; striving to achieve status and success, and coping with serious illness.

Nick Leeson now earns his living on the global corporate speaking circuit, living with his new wife Leona and their family on the west coast of Ireland.

After Dinner Speaking:

The collapse of Barings Bank and Nick Leeson’s remarkable story makes for a fascinating, insightful, and engaging after-dinner speech. Nick’s candid account will take the audience back to the early 90s when, at the age of 25, the son of a plasterer was propelled from Watford to Singapore and became a derivatives trader, heading up the Singaporean office of England’s oldest merchant bank.

Nick takes the audience on a journey from an innocent back-office error and hiding of the losses, through to his eventual downfall and failed escape back to Europe, followed by capture and incarceration in Singapore. It’s a gripping and intriguing story which sparked the best-selling book, Rogue Trader, and subsequent Hollywood movie starring Ewan McGregor.

To book compliance speaker Nick Leeson or for more information, contact our Entertainment Specialists today.