Nick Leeson

Nick Leeson has a career shrouded in controversy, having been the man that bankrupted Barings Bank. Joining the firm in 1989, Nick travelled the globe working in Hong Kong and Singapore before he began rogue trading for the bank. Beginning to make unauthorised trades from 1992, Nick’s speculative trades ultimately resulted in the UK’s oldest merchant bank, Barings Bank, becoming bankrupt with losses responsible to Nick. Since then, Nick has rebuilt his life and has been the CEO of Galway United Football Club and is a popular choice as an after-dinner or keynote speaker on topics such as conduct, compliance, governance, company culture, mental health, stress and wellbeing.

Originally hired as a Clerk at Coutts Private Bank, Nick has long worked in the world of banking. He was also a member of the Morgan Stanley Futures and Options office before joining Barings Bank. Working in Singapore for Barings Bank, Nick’s speculative trades initially made Barings Bank large profits before his luck went sour and he began to use an error account to hide the losses that his trades made. Assigned to buy 20 futures contracts, Nick made the decision to sell these contracts instead which resulted in a loss of £20,000 for Barings Bank. As his trades spiralled out of control, Barings Bank losses accumulated to £827 million- two times their trading capital. He then served over four years in prison, convicted for deceiving the bank and cheating the Singapore exchange market.

Having served his time and beat colon cancer, Nick has since gone on to forge a career in football management as the Commercial Manager, General Manager and CEO of Galway United Football Club. He has also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, finishing in fourth place, and authored the books Back From The Brink, Coping With Stress and Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World. Having hidden the weight of his ever-increasing losses, Nick suffered with his mental health and later undertook a degree in Psychology to understand his motivations and actions that brought down Barings Bank.

With a captivating story to his name, Nick is now a popular choice to have appear as an after-dinner speaker or keynote speaker at corporate events. With his personal story forming the centre point of his speeches, Nick is also known to cover topics of conduct, compliance, control, transparency, risk management, ethics, corporate responsibility, governance, organisation and company culture. He is also known to share his personal experience of mental health, wellbeing and stress derived from hiding the mounting losses he was responsible for. Whether you are looking for an expert finance keynote speaker or an after-dinner speaker to share an interesting story, look no further than Nick Leeson.

“Nick Leeson was excellent on the day, very frank, open and honest and allowed for a substantial Q&A session which was very well received at the event. We would have no hesitation in recommending Nick to other organisations such as ourselves.” Elaine Maher, Irish Brokers Association.

“Nick Leeson gave one of the most interesting and thought-provoking talks of the weekend with his personal account of how he brought the UK’s oldest investment bank, Barings Bank to collapse through his fraudulent speculation.” Warwick Economics Summit 2011.

“Nick Leeson was informative, engaging and entertaining! He has an amazing story to tell and does a very good job of telling it. Not only that, Nick goes the extra mile and spent a lot of time with our guests before and after the event, He was great value for money.“ Neil Grimshaw, British Insurance Brokers Association.

“Nick Leeson was an excellent speaker. A story told in such a humble way, honest and to the point. A real insight into how things can go drastically wrong and the resulting consequences.” Steve Coates , Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited

“Nick Leeson was very good for us. His subject matter was an excellent fit for our subject matter and he was a strong draw for our attendees. His presentation was factual, honest and compelling. I observed that the audience was truly interested in what he had to say. There didn’t seem to be any negative sentiment towards him or his prior actions. In fact, there was an employee of a bank sitting in the front row, closest to him, who was genuinely interested in how his situation went down. Nick also participated in a journalist interview from the Daily Telegraph. He was flexible and agreeable and the reporter seemed happy with the outcome. All in all, it was a successful day for Courion and Nick was instrumental in making that happen.” Doug Mow, Chief Marketing Officer, Courion Corporation.

“Mr Leeson shared his personal journey in a humble and direct manner.  His view was supported by the rest of the Board who found his story astonishing and recognised the lessons to be learnt.  The Secretariat department was especially pleased that Mr Leeson did not hurry through the delivery of his presentation and that he was willing to share his experiences in detail with the audience.  A truly thought-provoking experience.” Chairman, Exxaro Resources – South Africa.

• 2018 - Fourth place on Celebrity Big Brother 
• 2007 - CEO of Galway United Football Club 
• 2005 - Commercial Manager & General Manager of Galway United Football Club 
• 2005 - Co-Author of 'Back From The Brink, Coping With Stress' 
• 1996 - Co-Author of 'Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World'
• 1989 - Joined Barings Bank