#117 - Nick Leeson - I Lost £862 Million and Collapsed a Bank
The Peter McCormack Show
Peter McCormack
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 1 October 2025
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1995, 28-year-old trader Nick Leeson caused the collapse of Barings Bank after racking up £862 million in hidden losses. He fled Singapore, was arrested in Frankfurt, extradited and served over 4 years in a Singaporean prison.
We cover: – How it started with a £10K loss – What went wrong, who knew & how it was hidden – Why the bank kept giving him money – Being on the run – Life in prison & how it changed him – Reflecting on success, failure & fatherhood
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TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 – Intro 00:06:00 – From Maths Failure to Banker 00:08:18 – Headhunted by Barings 00:10:15 – Entering the Trading Pit 00:14:33 – The First £10K Loss 00:21:23 – Fear of Failure 00:26:35 – He Was Half the Market 00:35:18 – Options Strategy to Survive 00:39:41 – From £20M Loss to Breakeven 00:47:29 – Barings Sends All Their Cash 00:51:04 – It Was a Confidence Trick 00:55:01 – The Moment He Fled 01:00:00 – Headlines Hit the Newsstands 01:02:24 – Getting Caught 01:05:39 – Arrested on the Tarmac 01:08:29 – Jail in Germany 01:11:00 – Prison, Introspection & Change 01:13:31 – Did Anyone Lose Money? 01:20:30 – Life After Prison 01:23:32 – Speaking, Rebuilding & Psychology 01:25:42 – Letting Go of the Past 01:27:47 – Being a Dad Now 01:35:23 – Closing Thoughts
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EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So I lost 862 million pound through my illegal trading in Singapore and that caused the collapse of the bank. |
| 0:07.9 | I left Singapore on the 23rd of February 1995. That was the day I fled Singapore. So they'd sent somebody from |
| 0:15.8 | London, a guy called Tony Relton, to look at what was going on in Singapore. So they were finally getting close to this reconciliation. |
| 0:23.4 | He didn't do it for the first two and a half weeks, but then he did a reconciliation. |
| 0:27.6 | He came to me with a simple piece of paper like you've got in front of you. |
| 0:31.9 | You know, A plus B doesn't equal C. |
| 0:35.1 | Explain why it doesn't equal C. |
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