"According to him, Barings' failure is a unique situation, ...which he blames on the actions of a rogue trader in Singapore." "Estimates of potential losses range from 800 million to over one billion pounds." "Look at that!" "Will you fuckin' look at that!" " What, with the black guy?" " Yeah." "It's a shame." "She looks well spoken for." "Never know your luck, though." "Eh, mate?" " Think I'll give her the treatment!" " No, Steve, no." "Don't do that." " No, you're all right." " Don't do that." "Steve." "Steve!" "Hello, love." "I've got something to show ya." "Are you out of your mind or what?" "You fuckin' little prick!" "And I mean little!" "Don't judge a book by its cover, sweetheart." " You're out of your league, arsehole." " Calm down." "Fuck off or you're dead!" " I want you out of here, now." " He's really sorry." "He's pissed." "He meant no disrespect." "That's the last thing on anybody's mind." "Tell him if he doesn't put that thing away, ...I'll rip it off and shove it down his fuckin' throat!" "Do your flies up, you fuckin' animal." "You almost gave me a heart attack." "Just leave it." "It's not worth it!" "He's done it again." "I had to pull him off!" "Fuckin' right laugh!" "Nick!" "Nick!" "You all right?" "Nick!" "It was thanks to Maggie Thatcher opening up the City of London that yours truly from Watford came to be working for a posh outfit like Barings." "That was me lying on the floor, if you hadn't guessed." "Nick Leeson." "You've probably heard about me." "Barings was the oldest private bank in the world." "They financed the Louisiana Purchase back in eighteen hundred and something." "They even had the Queen as a customer!" "I was just a humble clerk." "But not for long, I hoped." "Car crash." "I hit my head on the back of the seat and broke my nose." "Everybody else was all right cos they were wearing their, um... seat belts." "Poor chap!" "Nick, I know you're keen to get out of the back office and onto the trading floor, ...but in the meantime something else has come up." "We've got problems in our Jakarta office." "We need someone to go out there and sort things out." "I thought that someone might be Nick Leeson?" "Indonesia was one of the new "tiger economies" everyone was getting so excited about." ""Emerging markets" they were calling them, ...and Barings was one of the first to see their potential." "The rewards were high." "But so were the risks." "One hundred million pounds in bearer bonds." "As good as cash." "We could pick 'em up, walk out," "Customers refuse to pay for them." "They say what's on them doesn't match the original deal." "The real reason: the market goes down, they don't want any more." "It's a mess." "You're absolutely 100 per cent right, Susi." "It's one hell of a fuckin' mess." "It was my job to sort out the certificates so customers wouldn't have any more excuses not to pay." "Until then, Barings had this bloody great hole in their balance sheet." "It was boring work, but I knew ifl made a success ofit then I could write my own ticket." "All the certificates are in the right denomination." "I've sorted out all the documentation." "That's all in order now, so all I need from you is a cheque!" "Hello." "I'm Lisa." "I'm, um..." "Nick Leeson." "Can I help you?" "Barings sent me to help with the settlements." "Didn't they tell you?" "Oh, of course!" "I've been on at them for so long I never thought they'd get round to it." "What do we do with that lot?" "Build a bonfire?" "I'd never even heard of Barings before I started working for 'em." "It's not like there's a Barings in Watford." "You're a hero in London." "They think the sun shines out of your arse." "Really?" "I was beginning to feel like one of those Japanese soldiers." "Still stuck out in the jungle 20 years after the war!" "What's it like here?" "They tell me it's not safe at night." "Bollocks." "The locals are great." "And it's not full of pompous ex-colonials thinking they were born to rule the world." "That's what I love about Asia." "Anyone can make it." "Doesn't matter which school you went to." "When they told me I was going to Jakarta I had to look it up on the map." "As a matter of fact, so did I." "I really want to be a trader." "If Barings don't let me on the floor after this, I'm off." " Not gonna be bloody clerking all my life." " Ooh!" "Ambitious, aren't we?" " Is that bad?" " It's great." "I just want to get on in life." "I like to enjoy myself, don't get me wrong." "Work hard, play hard." "Well, I think this is me." "Well, night, Nick." "That was fun." "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" " OK." "Night-night!" " See you tomorrow, then." "Lisa was a stunner all right." "Love at first sight." "Together we made short work of the rest of those bonds." "Soon we cleared up most of Barings' losses and it was time to go home." "See you later, Lisa." "Bye." "I think you'll agree that in Nick Lisa has met her prince." "Hear!" "Hear!" "Join me in wishing them well in their new life in Singapore, ...where Nick is to be general manager of the trading floor." "Whatever that means." "It impressed the hell out of me, but..." "And, um..." "To you, Nick, I'm entrusting the most precious of gifts." "I know you're gonna look after her and cherish her and all those other things." "And if you don't, ...I'll break your bloody legs, all right?" "He means it!" "I love you so much, Lisa Leeson." "I love you too, Nick." "As a reward for Jakarta I'd been given the far more important market of Singapore, ...with a brief to set up my own trading operation." "I was definitely on my way." " And the kitchen..." " This is your department, darling." "Since when?" "Cheeky!" "And the bedroom..." " If you need anything, call me." " Right, thanks." " Have a nice day." " Thanks." "Bye." "Goodbye." "Not bad for a chancer from Watford, eh?" "Well, um..." "I think we should test out that mattress, big boy." " Oh, yeah?" " Yeah!" "I can't see any problem in you handling both sides of the operation." " At least until volumes increase." " Right." "You shouldn't need more than two on the trading floor." "A couple more in the back office." "No need to pay top dollar." "Get them young, get them hungry and train them up." " I'm a bottom line kind of guy, Nick." " Absolutely." "That's my philosophy." "I took him at his word." "My team were young, hungry and they didn't have a clue." "A futures contract allows you to buy or sell a specified amount of a commodity at a specified price at a future date." "Right." "Um..." "It's like, if I agree to sell you this cup of cappuccino, which I don't yet own, ...at 45 cents a month from now..." "If I can buy the cappuccino at, say, 43 cents, I make a profit." "If the price goes the other way I have to pay more, and I lose." "It's timing - buying and selling at the right moment." "Sometimes espresso might be the best deal, or salt, or pepper." "So, we're running a supermarket?" "We're not buying and selling anything real." "It's just numbers - contracts based on the value of the Nikkei, ...the Tokyo stock market." " Er, we do this for the bank?" " No, no, for the customers." "We are not allowed to trade on behalf of the bank." "Be sure you remember that, all right?" "Other dealers wear red jackets." "All same." "Red is lucky Chinese colour." "Well, we want to stand out." "We're a new operation." "We need to be noticed." "May be bad luck." "Different colour." "Bollocks." "We make our own luck." "Nick's right." "We're cool dudes, man." "Whoo!" "Fernando." "Anything happening in Tokyo?" "Nothin'." "How's SlMEX?" "Same here." "No one's playin'." "590, and trading small." "600, and thin too." "580 here." "There's a seller who wants to trade in size." "Shall I low-tick him?" "Yeah." "Flush him out." " Squeeze the sucker." " How many?" "200." "Buy them... now." " Buy 'em!" " Filled!" "We paid 580 for 200." "Way to go, Nick!" "I sold at 590." "Fuck a duck!" "Just made 2,000 quid." "Yes!" "They were a good bunch and they were keen to learn." "It looked like a madhouse with all the traders waving and shouting, ...but it all made sense once you got the hang ofit." "There were hiccups, but that's normal in any operation, ...especially a new one like ours." "The important thing was we were picking up the business and the future looked rosy." "Nick, what's the difference between initial margin and variation margin?" "Initial margin's a down payment on each futures contract that we trade." "We don't pay in full until a contract matures." "But in the meantime the value of each contract may go up or down." "So SlMEX calculate our positions on a daily basis." "They'll ask for more money if the market goes against us." "That's variation margin." "Got it." "I think!" "We need to open an errors account." "We've had a few mistakes." "I need somewhere to put them till I can write them out." "Sure." "What number shall I give it?" " Well, what's your lucky number?" " Eight." "It is a very lucky Chinese number." "And how many numbers do we need?" "Five." "Then let's give it all the luck it can handle." "Call it the 88888 account." "And now it gives me great pleasure to welcome the chairman of Barings Bank, ...Peter Baring." "We may be the oldest merchant bank in the world, ...but that's no excuse for not keeping up with the times." "When I became chairman, ...I realised we couldn't go on running Barings like a gentlemen's club." "We had to look beyond our traditional recruiting grounds, ...the old school tie, ...to seek out a new and hungrier breed." "We're beginning to see the fruits of those efforts, and I have to say, ...the recovery in profitability, since the reorganisation, has been... amazing." "To be frank, I've discovered it's not actually terribly difficult to make money in the securities business!" "Filled." "Yeah, you paid 50 for 20." "Come in." "Simon, er..." "I've got a slight problem." "One of the girls sold 20 contracts for Fuji Bank instead of buying." "I can't do anything about it till Monday." "What's the damage?" "20,000 at the close." "Sack the cow." "She'll never work on SlMEX again." "That's a bit hard, isn't it?" "Look, you handle it." "Have a word with London, but make sure you make that client good." "All right." "Hey!" "Have a beer, shithead!" "Cheers." "Hi, darling." "Anyone seen Kim?" "She was here a minute ago." "Kim..." "Nick, Nick..." "I'm really sorry." "I got so confused." " Everybody was shouting all at once." " That's the job." "That's what it's all about, keeping a cool head." "I'm so sorry!" "I'll pay you back the money." "Sure, Kim." "Four years' salary?" "And if the market moves it could be even worse." "Come on, come on." "Come on, everyone makes mistakes." "Look, with a bit of luck I can trade out of it on Monday, all right?" "Nick, I've been waiting for you while everyone else is having a good time." " I'm going home now." " Kim!" "Kim...!" " Everything all right?" " Never better." "Why don't you let me come in and help?" "I can't sit around all day doing nothing." "It's not a problem, Lisa." "I can handle it." "Fernando, how are March futures looking?" " I need 20 contracts at Friday's price." " You won't get Friday's price!" "I should have closed off the position and taken the loss." "Instead, I waited for the market to change." "It changed all right, but not the way I wanted." "Now I was stuck with a bigger loss than I could own up to." "And it was all my fault." "Nick!" "I hear your girl handed in her notice." "Never came back." "She couldn't stand the pace." "So much for loyalty!" " Did you make the client good?" " Of course." "Made a small profit, actually." "Good man." "This one's for the five eights account." "I bought the missing contracts." "£60,000?" " Shh!" " It was only 20 before." "And the market went the wrong way." "I had to cut the loss." "What did Simon Jones say?" "Are you serious?" "He'd shut us down if he knew." "It'll be all right so long as we balance the books by the end of the month." " How?" " We trade on our own account until we wipe out the losses, then we use money from the client account and pay it back with next month's profits." "You mean, gamble?" "Relax, Bonnie." "That's all the market is." "One giant casino!" "George!" "I was counting on nobody looking at the books until the end ofeach month." "As long as the five eights account had a nil balance on the last day of the month, ...no one would suspect that anything was wrong." "But instead of winning back the position we made more losses, ...and I had to borrow more money from the client account to hide them." "Fuckin' hell, George, what are you playing at?" "Get fuckin' out!" "Get fuckin' out!" "Now!" "What the hell are you playing at?" "Out!" "Get out!" "Fuckin' hell!" "God, you're tense." "Stiff as a board." "If you only knew!" "All cos those bastards won't let me hire proper staff." " I thought it was going so well." " It is." "It's going brilliant." "I just spend most of my life covering everybody else's arse." "Well, why don't you let me help with the back office?" " I'm bored being a lady of leisure." " No." "Why not?" "It's ridiculous, you having to handle trading and settlements." "You'll have a nervous breakdown." "I don't want you interfering." "I can handle it." "All right, keep your pants on!" "No one's saying you can't." "I'm not going back to being a bloody clerk." "I'd rather be a plasterer." "My mum always used to say I could be anything I wanted, ...so long as I took my chances - and worked like a dog." "Well, you have." "You've worked really hard and it paid off." "She'd have been so proud of you." "Do you really think so?" "Yeah." "I know I am!" "That was the worst part - Lisa thinking I was this brilliant success." "If she only knew what a fuck-up I really was!" "When I wanted the market to go up, it went down." "If I wanted it to go down, it went up." "It was hard not to take itpersonally." "Nick?" "Nick!" "I just worked out the balance in the eights account." " The losses are over $10 million!" " Keep your fuckin' voice down!" "Look, there's no need to panic." "There's not enough in the client account to make margin payments, Nick." "Right." "I need dollars." "I need dollars to cover the initial margin payment!" "I can get dollars from London to cover all the client positions for the futures I buy!" "Nothing unusual about that." "But I'm gonna need yen." "Gonna need yen to cover the daily variation columns!" "Which'll leave a yen deficit by the end of the month." "Unless... unless I sell options." "That'll generate commission in yen." "And return the balance sheet on the five eights account to zero!" "As long as London kept sending out money to finance the client positions, ...I'd have enough cash to stay on top of the margin payments." "It was like robbing Peter to pay Paul, ...but hopefully I'd end up making enough to pay Peter back before he found out." "Meanwhile I had to generate more and more business to justify my cash calls, ...and for that I needed customers." "The bigger the better." "Mm-hm." "Oui." "Bon, trés bien." "Mr Leeson." " I'm Pierre Beaumarchais." " Nice to meet you." "I work for the Geneva Banking Trust, based in the Bahamas." "I was speaking with Ang Swee Tian, president of SlMEX." "He's impressed by the amount of business you've been generating." " There's a lot of opportunities here." " Oh, yes." "I do a lot of business on SlMEX." "With the exception of George Soros, ...I probably trade in the Nikkei more than anyone." "Sometimes over 5,000 contracts in a day." "That is a lot." "The whole market only does about 20." "Could Barings handle that amount of business?" "You bet we could!" "Beaumarchais was the answer to myprayers." "I'd be able to siphon off enough commission to square the eights account once and for all." " Hello?" " Pierre Beaumarchais." "I want to buy 4,000 June contracts." "I've... got a price of 350, but this'll move it." "Try not to pay more than 400." "We gotta get them cheap." "Beaumarchais is a big player." "If we pull this off, we get a shitload of business." " What's liquidity like?" " Tight as a flea's arse." "We'll get away with 500, then the price will move up." "OK." "But then we'll make the other traders think we're sellers." "And when the price drops... buy!" "All right?" "OK." "Sell 250!" "Sell 250!" "Sell 250!" "Sell 240!" "Sell 240!" "Sell 240!" "Sell 200!" "Sell 200!" " Buy 500 contracts!" " Sell 200!" "Buy?" "Buy?" "Buy at 200!" "Buy at 200!" "Buy at 210!" "Buy at 210!" "Buy at 220!" "Buy at 220!" "Buy at 230!" "Buy at 240!" "Buy at 240!" "Buy at 240!" "Filled!" "Nobody saw us coming!" "We swooped on the first 1500 like a Stealth bomber!" "4,000 contracts!" "Balls of steel, Fat Boy." "Balls of fuckin' steel!" "At last my luck had changed." "Suddenly I couldn't stop making money." "I was long in the Nikkei - that meant gambling on it going up - and up it went." "Up and up and up." "That's very good!" "Very good." "Serves you right, Lisa!" "If it went all the way up to 19,000, I stood to make a killing on the options I'd sold." "Come on, come on!" "Come on, baby, you can do it." "Come on." " Yes!" " Yes!" "Bonnie, we're on a fuckin' roll!" "Yes!" "Do you think we'll do it?" "It's amazing!" "You've made back all the losses." " Over $10 million." " What did I tell you?" "Oh, ye of little faith!" "You keep doubling up, and sooner or later you're bound to win." "The Nikkei has closed up for the third day in a row, ...and the rally shows little sign of running out of steam." "Analysts are predicting additional gains in the days ahead." " Happy?" " Yeah." "Are you?" "Never better." "I have been sailing a bit close to the wind." "I didn't want to worry you with it." " What do you mean?" " No, it's all right." "The market turned round and a whole load of my positions came good." "I made it all back." "What are you on about, Nick?" "Don't get your knickers in a twist, but we made mistakes and ran up some losses." "I went out on a limb to get back the position." "How big were the losses?" " It's about a million." " A million quid?" "!" "For God's sake, Nick!" "No, it's all right." "It paid off." "I squared it up." "I had to do it to protect the guys." "Promise me that you'll never do that again." " It's not worth it, Nick." " I promise." "You will give me a heart attack." " Merry Christmas." " Merry Christmas." "Fuck off!" "I really meant it." "I was the number one trader, and as the new year came in I was determined to kick my addiction to the eights account." "What will the market do?" "Long-term?" "No one thinks long-term, they think nanoseconds!" " Long-term's tomorrow morning." " Tomorrow, then." " That would be telling." " Leeson speaks, the market moves!" "You said it, mate." "Pierre." "I want to sell the 220 call options and buy the 200 calls in December." "I've got an offer of .138 for size." "Can you do better?" "I'll get back to you." "Quick as you can, Nick." "I have to move fast." "Oui, oui, je suis toujours la." "What the hell is he on about, .138 for size?" "The market in 220 calls is down." "He wants to cut his losses." " Yeah, but why .138?" " It's a ratio." "The 200 calls are trading at 1,400." "Divide 200 by 1,400, you get .143." "All right." "But not .138." "Unless someone's offered him a discount." "Probably Société Générale." "We can't let those wankers get our biggest client." " What are you gonna do?" " Just have to leg it." "Buy the contracts from Pierre and sell them when the market rises?" "I thought we were not supposed to trade for the bank." "Pierre?" "I can do it." "What's the exact size?" "6,500?" "All right, leave it with me." "No problem." "What if the market doesn't rise, uh?" "What if it falls?" "I've gambled and won before." "I can gamble and win again." "Balls of steel, me old mateys, and you'd better believe it." "Bonnie, I need you to reopen the eights account." "We got caned on Beaumarchais' contracts." "Now the bastard's gone back to Société Générale." "Fax Brenda Granger in London." "Ask her for funds to cover the margin payments." "Tell her it's for client positions." "Hello?" "It's Simon." "Can you come into my office?" "Right away." "Christ, I'd been rumbled!" "The only surprise was it'd taken so long." "What was I gonna tell Lisa?" "She'd bloody murder me." "Come in." "Congratulations, Nick." "The '93 bonuses are in, and you're down for 135 grand." "135?" "That's fantastic!" "Your little operation generated profits of over £10 million last year." "You're a star!" "In fact, your figures are so high they're going to check up on you." "Check up on me?" "They're sending Ash Lewis out for the audit." "Don't worry." "It's purely routine." "Ash Lewis?" "She's meant to be a right ball-breaker, isn't she?" "That's our booth." "Filled!" "You paid 250." "Hi, Nick." "Ron Baker and Ash Lewis." "Ron is head of Derivatives Trading in London." "Which I guess makes me your boss, Nick." " How do you, Mr Leeson?" " Very well, thank you." "OK." "Let's see the action!" "Henry!" "Who's doing all the business?" "We're the biggest, right?" "We do a lot of arbitrage, so we do have a high volume." "We signal orders in to George in the pit - this is Henry - ...and at the end of the day the girls in the office log all the deals on to the computer." "You manage the trading floor and the settlements office, is that right?" "Yes, yes." "That's a little unusual." "Whatever happened to checks and balances?" " That's something we need to talk about." " I'll be here for three weeks." "This is going to be a thoroughly comprehensive audit." "No stone unturned." "Absolutely." "Anything I can do to help, any stone needs turning, let me know." "Are we filled?" "Good man, Henry." "Nice to see you, Simon." "Dad's seen this flat in Blackheath." "Needs a bit of work, but him and my granddad can fix it up." "Think of it like an insurance policy in case you get sacked, ...have to go back to England and work as a plasterer!" "What's up with you, misery-guts?" "What would you do, Lise?" "What would you do if I did get the elbow?" "You've just been given a ruddy great big bonus." "But what if it all went wrong?" "What if I'm not as clever as everyone thinks?" "Oh, of course you are!" "Anyway, it's you I love." "I don't give a toss about the money." "If it was up to me we'd jack it all in now, go back to England and start a family." "You're doing brilliantly, Nick." "You're a bloody star." " Nick!" " Fuck!" "Simon!" " You're looking disgustingly chirpy." " Haven't you heard?" "Panic over." " Ash has been called back to London." " You're kidding." "Why?" "Office politics." "Some turf battle between Futures and Securities." " And what about the audit?" " They'll send Mark Taylor and Chris Carr." "Compared to Ash they're a couple of pussies." "Pity." "I was rather looking forward to seeing the dreaded Ash Lewis in action!" "Yes!" "No, I'm just leaving now." "I'm gonna jump in the shower." "If you get home first, put the oven on." " All right, sweetheart." "I'll see you then." " Bye, darling." " Get in, you bastard!" " What the fuck is that?" "Sex on wheels." "It's a Porsche, moron!" "Get in!" "I'll tell you what it is." "It's disgusting'." "I'll tell you what it is." "It's a great big hard-on!" "Got to think of something to do with my bonus." "You keep your eyes on the road, you flash git!" " It's a fuckin' one-way street, George." " Whoops!" "Goodness, gracious, great balls of steel!" " Whoo!" " Fuckin' George!" "Shit!" "There's that Reuters journalist." "Nick!" "Nick!" "He's been bugging me for weeks for an interview." " Hey, Nick!" " All right, mate?" "Nick, my man." "What'll you have?" "Oh, a beer, please." "You know George Seow, one of my dealers?" "This is Danny from Intercontinental Trading." " Just been sent from the London office." " Nice to meet you." "Heard a lot about you." "I hear Barings have almost cornered the market here, thanks to you." "The rumours have been greatly exaggerated." "Don't be so modest." "He's king of the exchange!" "Barings got an award for all the business he's generated." " Do you want a beer?" " I'd love a beer." "Watch the Drambuie settle." "And it's called depth charge." "It's guaranteed to blow your fuckin' head off." "Are you ready?" "Let's do it." "Let's have it." "One!" "And two!" "And three!" " Bottoms up!" " Bottoms up!" "Hey!" "Pretty women!" "What are you waiting for?" "Come on!" " Come on!" " Tough shit, George." "Your charm's just not working tonight." "Stuck-up bitches!" " I bet they're Singapore air hostesses." " Flight lieutenants, if you don't mind!" "Chocks away!" "Flight lieutenants...!" "Help 'em to decide if they wanna come in or if they don't wanna come in." "Let's give 'em a hand and moon 'em!" "That should help 'em decide." "Come on, don't be shy!" "Your mother wasn't!" "I love this man." " On three?" " It worked before." "It could work again." "One..." "Two!" "Three!" "Bottoms up!" "That is disgusting!" "What'll it be, you old bastard?" "Absolutely brilliant, Nick!" "Drinks are on me." "Enough depth charges to sink a battleship!" " Fuck, what time is it?" " I don't know." "Got to phone Lisa." "Oh, you've got to be jokin'!" "No laughing matter." "Outraging a lady's modesty..." "very serious crime in Singapore." "News ofmy disgrace reached London." "At the highest level." "It's slightly embarrassing, but one of our traders got drunk and pulled a moon." "What did you say?" "He exposed his bottom." " Why?" " Playing silly buggers, I expect." "Unfortunately, the law over there takes rather a dim view." "Maybe we should sack him." "Sacking him would be..." "awkward, to say the least." "He generates a significant amount of our profits in Southeast Asia." "I, er... ought to mention we're getting stick from the Bank of England about our funding over there." "Technically we're in breach of regulations on the ratio of lending to capital." "Would you like me to have a quiet word in their ear?" "Oh, we're not quite there yet." "When I spoke to Andy Dixon at the Bank, he said the matter was "buried reasonably deep in his in-tray"." "Just flagging a concern." "Quite right." "It's something we should keep an eye on." "Well... is that it?" "Any other business?" "Well, what about this chap Leeson?" "He of the exhibitionist tendencies." "I suppose it's something we should leave to the Singapore authorities." "I have to say..." "I'm inclined to agree." "So, it was the profits that saved me." "If they only knew!" "Nick!" "That guy from Reuters again." "The second time today." "Tell him I've..." "Oh, fuck it!" "Gimme the phone." "Print me up a balance on the eights account." "Hi, Loy." "Nick!" "You're a hard man to pin down." "You know how it is." "What can I do you for?" " Quite a position you've been buying." " We're happy." "I don't know how the client wants to play it." "Who is this mystery client, Nick?" "He must have rather large balls." "I'm sorry, mate." "Client confidentiality and all that." "Is it Pierre Beaumarchais?" "Sorry, Loy, I... gotta go." "I'll speak to you later." "Speak to you some other time." "Jesus Christ, Bonnie." "It's 7.78 billion yen!" " Do you want the dollar amount?" "It's..." " Yeah, yeah, $77.8 million." "Book me the following notional trade." "Selling 1,000 December 21,500 put options at a price of... 7778." "Then print me a new report after that entry so it shows 7.78 billion yen..." " ...as if it was owing to us from SlMEX." " Sure, Nick." "Then fax Brenda Granger in London, asking for more funds." "Say we've had a large margin call on our client positions." "How much?" "A million." "Make it two." " Nick!" " Mm?" "Nick, it's the phone." " Hello?" " I'm not disturbing you, am I?" "It's 2am." "Oh, Christ." "Sorry, mate." "Had no idea." "The old farts are getting nervous." "They want you to unwind the position a little." "That's easier said than done." "Don't want to send the wrong signal to the market." "Yeah, yeah." "Second, we need another £2 million profit by next month to secure our bonuses." "Two million?" "Ron, what planet do you live on, mate?" "One minute you want me to unwind the positions..." "Failure is not an option, mate." "See you at the junket in London in three weeks' time." "£2 million?" "Who do they think I am, George Soros?" "We were close to the end of another year and I was deeper in the shit than ever." "Barings wanted me to speak at their annual group conference in London." "I was their star trader, and they wanted to know the secrets ofmy success." "It didn't bear thinking about." " Is Nan staying with Auntie Karen?" " Yeah." " It's the best place she could be." " Aww, poor thing." " Has she been crying?" " Mm." "Has she?" "Hello?" "Nick!" "It's for you." "Ron Baker." "Ron!" "Can't believe you tracked me down already." "Listen, with this conference you'll be away from the trading floor a long time." "I had to come back a week early for this funeral." " I told you, Lisa's granddad passed away." " I'm sorry about that, mate, ...but I'm fighting for your bonus." "You need to keep up those profits." " I couldn't miss this funeral." " No one's asking you to!" "I'll issue you a pass so you can come in on Sunday and trade through the night." "You won't miss a thing!" "Get out the fuckin' way!" "If he's working this hard he's going to need his food." "He wants me to go into the office on Sunday night and trade." "Well... no!" "That's completely out of order." "Let someone else make the profits!" "She's right, Nick." "You're not a machine." "It's bonus time." "If I don't deliver, then everybody loses out." "It's not fair, Nick." "You carry on at this rate, you're gonna be in a right old state." "It's gonna be your funeral next." "For as much as it hath pleased almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, ...we therefore commit his body to the ground." "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, ...dust to dust." "Good to see you, son." "Sorry occasion, but there you go." " He had a good innings." " That's the main thing." "So how's it going over there?" " Can't complain." " We're all proud of you." " What you've achieved." " It's no big deal." "Don't be so bloody modest!" "You a plasterer's son!" "I just wish your mum could have been here to see it." "So do I." "I'll try not to let you all down, Dad." " What did you say?" " It's OK, it's just jet lag." "Don't pay any attention to me." "I felt sick going into the office, ...seeing all the people I'd been avoiding for months." "It was one thing to con people over the phone, quite another to do it to their face." "Nick?" "That's you, isn't it?" "Nick Leeson?" "I heard you were coming in." "You haven't the vaguest idea who I am, have you?" "Brenda?" " Of course." "I'm sorry." "How are you?" " So I finally get to put a face to the voice!" " My God, you are so young!" " Well, ageing rapidly, I'm afraid." "Can you come into my office?" "I really do need to talk to you about the figures." "I'm meeting Peter Norris in three minutes." "Oh." "Well, do come in right after, OK?" "Nobody out there can answer our questions but you." "And they just asked for another ton of funding." " All right." "This one?" " Yeah." "Brenda was my cash lifeline." "She was the lastperson I wanted asking awkward questions." "But first I had to deal with Peter Norris." "He's such a red-hot trader I'm having him come in overnight!" "Are you really?" "You can't keep Nick away from the floor." "He's the key man in Singapore." "Sounds like you're the key man in Asia." "He's insane!" "You should see how he takes that market on." " Are you enjoying yourself?" " Yes, it's all right." ""All right"?" "Now, we need to talk about merging the sales areas in Asia." "Nick has some views." "If we can replicate his success in Hong Kong and Tokyo..." "What do you think, Nick?" "It does make a lot of sense to merge." "There would need to be controls, of course, ...but the trading books can be used to supplement a customer's requirements and increase information flows." "Synergetically." "Exactly." "Synergy." "So you see, Peter, Nick agrees." "And he's been very successful with his customers." "They love him!" "Yes, excellent." "Well, keep up the good work, ...and Ron, you sort out what you want with this merger." "Now, gentlemen, I really have to..." " Good to meet you." " Nice to meet you." "Cheers." "I think that went well." "He seemed to go for the merger idea." " Oh, he did." "He really went for it!" " This'll be good for you too, Nick." "They'll give you some kind of fancy new title!" "Uh..." "Nick!" "Nick!" "Ron!" "Being good is not good enough!" "Everyone must be connected to our strategy, or we will find you and weed you out!" "Information arbitrage is our business." "If you don't know what an information curve is, then find out!" "Position yourself in an information curve." "Dominate the curve!" "Nick Leeson, who most of you know and all of you have heard of, ...runs our operation in Singapore, ...which I want all of you to try to emulate." "Now, you'll hear later from Nick about how he does it, ...but I just want to drive home to you guys that if you could all think about Nick and perhaps come up with ideas to follow his footsteps," "...Barings will become one of the most successful operations in the derivatives business." "Oh, fuck!" "Oh, we are gonna make so much money!" "But more to the point, ...you are gonna make so much money." "Oh, Nick!" "Nick... wake up." " Lisa..." " We're meant to be going to the dinner!" "I can't." "I can't face it." "I can't take it any more." "I'm not going back after Christmas." "You can't make me." "What?" "!" "You're sitting next to Peter Norris in the seat of honour!" "Don't tell me you missed your presentation too." " I've been drinkin'." " I never would have guessed(!" ")" "I think it's downright rude." "You can't let everybody down." "You don't understand, Lisa." "I'm sitting on a fuckin' volcano." "I can't go back!" "And what about your bonus?" "Now, stop babblin' and get yourself dressed!" "I'll give you volcano, Nick Leeson - right up your bum!" "Lisa... oi!" "In you go!" "You stink!" "Oh, Lisa..." "You bitch!" " I'm gonna kill you now!" " Look at you!" "What a disgusting sight!" "Aagh, no, you're gonna get me all wet, Nick!" "Oh!" "Nick." "You've got to get dressed." "Stop." "You've got to get dressed!" "Promise me you'll always love me, Lisa." "That whatever happens, you'll always love me." "Oh, of course I will!" "You're my man, aren't you?" "It was crazy going back." "I couldn't hope to survive the end-of-year audit." "There was that little matter of the 7.78 billion yen which I'd fabricated to plug the hole in the five eights account." "I should have told Lisa when I had the chance, ...but this voice kept telling me I'd traded out of losses before - I could trade out of them again." "What's this letter all about?" "Well, it's from SlMEX." "Yes, I know it's from SlMEX." "It came while you were away." ""lt appears that you have financed the trading positions held by sub-account 88888."" ""lf this is the case you have violated SlMEX Rule 822, ...which bans members from financing the trading margins of their customers."" "They're just banging on about our intra-day funding limits." "Well, what is sub-account 88888 anyway?" "It's a customer account." "We have umpteen trading accounts." "I'd have to look into it." "We're the number one trader, and they're tying us up in red tape." "Anyone would think they didn't want us to trade." "Er..." "I'll draft an answer for you." "Yeah, do that, will you?" "Get it on my desk by the morning." "Of course, Simon." "Lisa?" "Lisa?" "Lisa, what are you doing?" "I'm bleeding, Nick!" "Why didn't you tell me?" "Cos I was waiting till I was sure!" " You're not angry with me, are you?" " Of course I'm not angry, my love." " You want the baby, don't you?" " I really want the baby." "I want lots and lots of babies." "All right?" "Yeah." "Your wife is OK..." "I'm afraid she's lost the baby." "I'm sorry." "That was the turning point." "That was when I decided I couldn't stand around any longer hoping the market would move in my favour." "I was gonna have to make it move." "I didn't care how much money it took." "I was gonna go for broke." "The man is single-handedly generating a fifth of the group's worldwide profits!" "I know." "But $30 million in margin payments?" "For one day's trading?" "You don't seem to understand." "The volumes are enormous!" "Nick's guy is the biggest player on SlMEX!" " Hello?" " Nick." "It's Brenda." "Listen, buddy." "This is putting a terrible strain on our borrowing." "Tony Hawes is all over me about your cash calls." "I hear you." "But London is the cash cow for the business here." "We just don't have access to any other funds." "If you keep hassling me I've a good mind to stop trading." "No, no, Nick." "It's OK." "Listen..." "Just get back to me with some meaningful figures, OK?" "Fuck off." "Hello?" "Thank goodness I caught you." "I know Brenda's giving you a hard time..." "I don't think any of you understand how it works out here." "You may be right, mate." "Anyway, consider it sorted." "But you are gonna have to start reducing these positions." "Well, Ron, I'll see what I can do, all right?" "While I've got you, about your bonus..." "The budget's tight." "Though you've been exceptional there's not much to go round." "I thought we had a record year!" "Yeah." "That said, I've put in a special plea to Peter and he's agreed to go up to 350." "350?" "That's ridiculous!" "I'm really pushing out the boat for you, mate." "I'm busting my balls here." "I made us the top house in SlMEX." "We even got that award for all the business we're doing!" "Yeah, I know that, Nick." "Look, I'll see what I can do." "I'll see if it can't start with a four, eh?" "That was their opening offer." "He'd have thought something was wrong if I'd accepted it straight away." "Yeah, it's like winning the lottery." "They must think the world of you." "What's the matter, Lisa?" "What do you think's the bloody matter, Nick?" "Everything's changed!" "I just wanna go home." "Get the hell out of here and go home." "But... you wanted to come back." "What about the bonus?" "Well, can't you get the bonus in London?" "Please, Nick!" "I wanna get on with my life." "I wanna start a family." "I'm going stir-crazy here all on my own!" "Calm down." "Look, I just need a bit more time to sort things out, turn things around." "No!" "You're up at dawn and then you come back at night and collapse into bed..." "How am I meant to get pregnant again if we never make love?" "I know." "But this could set us up for life!" " When's bonus day?" " 24th of February." "Just five weeks to go." "Right, we're gonna leave on the 25th." "I mean it." "I'm calling the furniture removers tomorrow." "All right." "All right." "With everything else closing in on me, I'd forgotten about the mooning charge." "When it finally came up, I was facing a possible jail sentence." "The charge has been reduced to a misdemeanour." "The maximum penalty is a $200 fine." "I think we should plead guilty." "Thank you very much." "It was uncanny." "I'd got away with it again!" "To the Singapore legal system, a shining example to the free world!" "We bared our all for Barings." "Bearer bonds takes on a whole new meaning after this!" "Talk about a bear market!" "Hello?" "Mooners Anonymous." "This is Wei Wei from Coopers  Lybrand." "Is that Nick?" "Speaking." "I'm compiling the end-of-year audit." "There seems to be a big hole in the accounts." "I'm missing the 7.78 billion yen receivable from SlMEX." "Nick, can you hear me?" "Is everything all right?" "It's a little complicated." "What do you need?" "I can't find any paperwork." "It was an over-the-counter trade between Speer, Leads and Kellagg and Barings London." "It fell through the computer system." "I'll have a word with the systems manager." "I need three bits of paper." "One: confirmation from SLK that the 7.78 billion yen will be paid." "Two: sight of your bank balance to show it's been received." "And three: a note from Ron Baker saying he's aware of the deal and approves it." "Well?" "Oh, it's just a computer glitch." "They're doing their annual audit." "And so, with scissors andpaste, I created $78 million out of thin air." "This was forgery, pure and simple, ...and there was no going back." " Nick!" " Simon." "Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack!" " What's this missing seven billion yen?" " Oh, that's a nightmare." "It's an OTC trade that was incorrectly booked." "The auditors are really on my case about it." "It's a pain in the arse, but we've got to get it sorted." "The point is, we're owed the money by SLK." "Who the hell are SLK?" "Speer, Leads and Kellagg." "It's a brokerage house." "Better send me a memo as soon as." "Get these auditors off my back." "Sure, Simon." "Don't worry, I'm onto it." "Bonnie, it's Nick." "Listen." "Listen very carefully." "Transfer 7.78 billion yen from the client account to the house account tomorrow." "But it won't go!" "There isn't enough money." "I know that, but then you can reverse it." "It's just an electronic transaction." "But I want the transfer done." "And I want the bank to send us a fax of the statement, showing the 7.78 billion yen credit." "All right, Nick." "If you say so." "Cheers, Bonnie." "Nick?" "What's all this about seven billion yen?" "Someone from London, Tony Hawes, was looking for you." "Jesus Christ, if I hear any more about this seven billion yen..." "It's about $70 million, innit?" "What do you reckon?" "Red or blue?" "You think I just walked off with $70 million?" "I didn't say that." "It's a computer error." "You need someone in the back office, I told you." "You're not blooming' Superman!" "Don't start all that again." "It wouldn't have happened if I'd been there." "Right." "I'm goin' out." " Where are you going?" " To get pissed." "If anyone calls, tell 'em I've gone to South America." "Well, you can bloody stay there, then!" "Twat!" "What have you done now, Leeson?" "What have you done now?" "Come in." "I thought you'd like to know the audit's been cleared." " Nick sent the papers." "Everyone's happy." " Thanks, Ron." "Technically we've breached SlMEX rules, but it was just a non-transaction." "With any luck the auditors won't mention it, or we may have problems with the local regulator." "Sounds sensible." "Do you know, Nick made $10 million doing arbitrage in a week?" "That's about..." "half a billion dollars a year." "The guy's a turbo arbitrageur!" "If he's doing that amount of business for that amount of profit, ...why don't we shut down the rest of the bank?" "We're just overhead." "Yeah!" " Hello?" " Nick, ...are you avoiding me?" "I've been trying you for days." "Sorry, Tony, it's been chaos." "The audit went through." "I thought you knew." " It's this SLK thing." " It's all been cleared up." "I know." "What's bothering me is where you got all the money to actually well, pay SLK in the first place." "I mean, it's the equivalent of $78 million!" "It doesn't add up, you know." "It's obvious." "It's part of the funding we've had from you over the past few weeks." "Yes." "So, the same figure will flow back to you." "I see." "You're saying that some of the funding was used to pay SLK?" "That's right, Tony." "So we'll be able to pay it back to you." "That'll be good." "Er..." "getting our funding down will be good." "I'm having to juggle quite a few balls." "We all are, Tony." "Look, I've got to dash." "I've got company for dinner." "Of course." "Thanks, Nick." "Thanks for... clearing that up." "Yes, Ron." "What do you want?" "It's me, you wanker!" "Danny." "Bubble?" "What are you doing calling me in the middle of the night?" "Are you anywhere near a TV?" "I suggest you tune in to CNN." "The worst damage was in the seaport of Kobe." "Road and rail links are shattered..." "Jesus, an earthquake!" "That's all we fuckin' need." "This is gonna kill the market, man." "The Nikkei's gonna fall through the fuckin' floor!" "...milling around in search ofhelp." "Rescue operations are going to be complicated, long and expensive." "Mike Chinoy, CNN, reporting live from Tokyo." "Market's down 300 points, you stand there cool as a fuckin' cucumber." "The way I see it, it's an opportunity." "I'm gonna buy into the market." "Buy it all the way back up to 19,000." "Oi!" "Fuckin' true what they say about your gonads, mate." "See what I mean?" "Think I'll give Fernando a bell in Tokyo, see what's shakin'." "No pun intended." "It's Nick." "What's the situation in Kobe?" "We've been trying to contact our friends, but the lines are down." "Hold it a second." "We got movement." "Holy shit, selling!" "There's some selling!" "Fuckin' hell, it's in free fall!" "I've never seen it move so fast." "350!" "350!" "350!" "Nick?" "Sure you don't want us to stay?" "No, I..." "I'm fine." "You go." "You'll make it right, Nick." "We all believe in you." "50 million!" "I, ...Nicholas Leeson, ...have lost 50 million quid in one day!" "What does he do, exactly?" "That's what no one seems able to explain." "It's simple." "He switches contracts between Osaka and SlMEX, ...exploiting price differentials between the two markets." "That's how he offers the best deals to our customers." "If it's that easy, why isn't everybody doing it?" "Because he's absolutely in the vortex of the information curve over there." "He's discovered a whole new way of making money." "Well, he's giving us horrendous funding problems, that's all I know." "He doesn't do things by the book, Ron." "He just doesn't respect the rules." "Is he really the kind of person we should be employing at Barings?" "Oh, fuck the rules." "It's barrow boys like Nick who are turning the City around." "You can't run a modern financial centre with a bunch of Hooray Henries." "Bastard!" "Wakey-wakey!" " What's the action, mate?" " You tell me." "The market's up and down like a tart's knickers." " I think the worst is over." " Who knows?" "You could be right." "Well, that's my hunch anyway." "Listen, I was out last night with that Loy." "You know, that journo from Reuters." "He's convinced there's no mystery customer." "He reckons it's you." "He thinks you're trading on your own account." "Without the bank's approval." "Now, you're not that crazy, are you?" "What do you think?" "Who, then?" "Beaumarchais?" "I thought he'd given you the elbow." " I can't tell you." " Come on." "It's me, Danny Boy!" "I could tell you... but I'd have to shoot you afterwards." "I know one thing." "If Customer X didn't exist, ...you'd have to invent him." "45 million?" "You've already had 100 this week." "Everybody's had an advance margin call from SlMEX on their clientpositions." "They're worried about stability with these big movements." "It's an emergency measure(?" ")" "Isn't everybody squealing out there?" "No, we'll get it back when the market calms down." "Nick, when are you gonna reduce these positions?" "The bean counters are freakin' out!" "Ron!" "Didn't know you were there." "For fuck's sake, we've had the Bank of International Settlements asking if Barings can meet its margin payments!" " It is not good for the image!" " I hear you, Ron." "It's a tight market." "Yeah, well, you've really gotta try." "Take a hit on it if you have to." "I know Norris is gonna want to discuss it with you when he's out there next week." "Norris?" " I didn't know he was coming." " Yeah, with Tony Hawes." "They want to check the numbers." "Iron out these funding problems once and for all!" "There was no way I could reduce my positions without the market collapsing." "By the time they got to Singapore I was in deeper than ever, faxing Brenda daily, ...30, 40 million dollars at a time." "They were gonna kill me." "Lookin' like shit, Nick." "Lookin' like fuckin' shit, mate." " Good evening, sir." " Good evening." "His approach shot sliced into the woods..." " Nick." "There you are." " I'm sorry I'm a little bit late." " What'll you have?" " A beer would be great, thanks." "Another Tiger, please." "Nick..." " How was the market today?" " It stayed between 18,000 and 18,300." "It's settled after the earthquake." "Happy with the positions you're running?" "I'm relaxed." "They're March contracts, so I'll let them expire." " Good." " Thanks." "Now, we've had a lot of stick..." "over funding." "Brenda Granger tells me we're borrowing all over Japan to get the funds to you." "People are beginning to talk, Nick." "I understand." "I understand completely." "Excellent." "Good man." "And that was it." "That was apparently all he had to say on the subject of my enormous exposure causing so many ulcers throughout Barings." "Better than you get in London, that's for sure!" "You'll enjoy the next course." " Lobster, sir?" " No, thanks." "I'm not very hungry." "I should have been able to relax after that, ...but I couldn't stop thinking about the losses in the five eights account." "Shame you can't stay for the match on Saturday." "You're down for 450, aren't you?" "Your bonus." "Only a week to go." "Sorry?" "Have you thought about what you're going to do with it?" "Only a week to go!" "Ahem!" "Excuse me." "I have an announcement to make." "I know that some of you are worried about our exposure in the market, ...and you're probably wondering about the identity of our mystery Customer X." "Well, the fact is he doesn't exist." "We are the customer:" "Barings." "Look properly at the five eights account - ...which is not a client account, it's an errors account - ...and you'll realise it's concealing losses in the region of £200 million." "No, I tell a lie." "It's more like 230 after today!" "What are you going to do with all that money, Nick?" "Well, I won't spend it on futures and options!" " That's very good." " Very good." "I was living from day to day, hoping for a miracle." "I wasn't running a position any more." "The position was running me." "Man, look at the state you're in." "You got the bloody shakes!" " You been on the razz all night?" " Nah." " I'm just getting killed by the market." " Tell me about it!" "I've had a shitty week too." "Penguin?" "You lucky sod!" "Do you know how rare they are?" "Do you know?" " It ain't that bloody funny!" " Lucky Leeson(!" ")" "You have it." "I'm not laughing at you, Bubble." "Fuck!" "Sorry." "'Ey-ey-ey-ey-ey!" "You really are in a bad way, ain't ya?" "What's the matter?" "I have an unauthorised position." "Fuckin' hell." "How big?" "Big enough to be a problem." "Poor bastard!" "I can't say it comes as a complete surprise." " Does Lisa know?" " No, she'd kill me." "She's got enough on her plate." "She's just waiting for my bonus so we can go home!" "So what are you gonna do?" "Well..." "I just have to keep buying futures to support the market." "If it sticks at 18,000, my options are still in the money" " I could get the position back." " I may even come out ahead." " Nick..." "You listen to me now, right." "You don't fight the market, man." "Even if you can make the margin calls, what happens when the contracts expire?" "The way the market's going, your losses could be catastrophic!" "Five for a thousand, five for a thousand!" "Come on!" "George, move this fuckin' market!" "If it stays below 18,000 we're dead!" "Come on!" "Nick." " Nick!" " Tony." "Nick, I really need to go over some of the figures with you." "Sure, Tony." "Back in a minute." "Seven for five!" "Seven for five!" "I'm sorry." "Money!" "I'd thrown away countless more millions, and it hadn't made a dent." "I was only one day from bonus day, but the game was up." "I was beaten." "Oh, Nick, you're a bloody fool, aren't you?" "Well, it's not the end of the world." "You've got your health, you've got me..." "Shame about the bonus." "Sorry." "Slow down." "The video shop's on the next left." " I wanna get our deposit back." " Right." "We're gonna need it, darlin'." " Hello?" " The positions have got bigger!" "If they aren't reduced I'm coming out there to sort you out!" " You're very faint, Ron." " And what's this rumour I hear?" "There's a rumour that we're the customer." "Sorry, you're gonna have to speak up." "Tell me we're not the customer, Nick." " I'm losing you, Ron." " Nick!" "Nick, are you there?" "Goodbye, Ron." "They wouldn't give me the full 200, but I stood my ground and got 180." "Good girl." "Nick...!" "Excuse me, sir." "There's a phone call for you." " Not now." " It's Peter Norris." "He said it's urgent." "Oh." "Thank you." "Would you excuse me?" "Peter?" "I'm sorry to drag you away from your dinner party." "I'm afraid I've got some rather bad news." "By the time the shit hit the proverbial fan in London we'd escaped Singapore to ponder the future and consider my options." "If I had any." "What's gonna happen, Nick?" "They must have got my fax and closed down all the positions on Friday." "The market seems to be holding up OK." "But you're definitely out of a job?" "It could have been a lot worse, but I still lost them a ton of money." "I'm starving!" "Think they do burgers here?" "No!" "You're not having a burger." " That tummy of yours is driving me nuts." " Don't stress me, wench!" "I'll work it off in the gym." "Better still..." " Stop it." "People are watching." " So?" "I don't care." "Come here, girl." "Jesus Christ, Lisa!" " Barings has gone bust!" " What?" "!" "The Chancellor of the Exchequer is trying to calm fears sparked by the failure ofBarings Bank." "In a statement to Parliament he denied reports that the British banking system is about to collapse." "According to him, Barings' failure is a unique situation, ...which he blames on the actions of a rogue trader in Singapore." "Estimates of potential losses range from 800 million to over one billion pounds." "There's no way ofknowing how markets will react when they reopen on Monday." "As the Bank of England tries to put together a rescue package, ...with the Sultan ofBrunei rumoured as a buyer, time may be running out for one of Britain's most venerable financial institutions." "Charles Samson, CNN, London." "Fuck!" "Oh, Nick!" "How could you not tell me?" "How could you have kept it hidden for all this time, Nick?" "You must have been through hell!" "You would have marched me straight into Simon Jones's office." " Too bloody right!" " Then I'd have got fired, ...and I couldn't have made the money back." "That's all I was gonna do." "No, but you were gambling." "That's what you were doing." "With other people's money." "I didn't want to let everyone down." "You, my dad, the girls in the office..." "Even Ron bloody Baker!" "Do you think they're all gonna hate me now?" "Well, I don't think you're gonna be Mr Popular!" "It could easily have been the other way, you know." "It so nearly was." "Then I'd be a hero." "Oh...!" "Come here." "Come here." "I still love ya." "Mm?" " I love you very much." " I love you too." "Shall we see if I can do something about that belly?" "I see." "Yes, I understand." "No, of course." "Thank you again for your efforts." "Goodbye." "That was the Sultan of Brunei's office." "They have decided not to proceed." "They believe the risks are too great and the time too short, in view of the need to have a rescue package ready by the time markets open again in the Far East." "Is there really no one else?" "We've tried everyone." "It's hopeless." "I therefore have to inform you that Barings is insolvent and will go into immediate liquidation." "Peter Barings has gone on TV and said there's been a conspiracy." "They've lost 800 million quid!" "I lost nowhere near that." "It was more like 300!" "But Barings didn't do anything Friday." "Now the word's out, the market's crashed." "Bloody idiots!" "They think you've run off on your yacht." " What?" "!" " I know." "But listen, mate." "You've got no friends here now, so just get the fuck out of Asia." "Get back to London, Australia, anywhere." "Just get out." "We're tryin'." "Oi, Nick..." "get yourself a good lawyer." " Be lucky." " Cheers, mate." "Flight 187 to Hong Kong leaving from gate two." "Fuck!" "There's a manhunt all over Asia." "They think we're sailing around in our yacht!" " What bloody yacht?" " I know." "What about the flights?" " There's one to London." "Via Singapore." " That's no good." "There's a flight to Frankfurt." "Via Abu Dhabi." "Let's take it." "And Lisa..." "Pay cash." " Newspaper, sir?" " No, thank you." " Ma'am?" " Er... no, thanks." "Nick, take that thing off." "There's a guy over there lookin' at me." "I'm not surprised, with that bloody hat on!" "Talk about conspicuous!" "You're sticking out like a sore bloody thumb." "Did you say we stop at Abu Dhabi?" "Yeah." " That's where they cut your hands off." " Oh, don't be ridiculous!" "They just stone you." "What?" "I'm sorry, but you've gotta laugh!" "Poor old Barings, eh?" "That's what you get for hiring the wrong sort of person." "That was when it hit me - ...the enormity of what I'd done." "Whatever happened, I knew things were never gonna be the same again." "And I've never felt lonelier in all my life." "I love you, Lisa." "Whatever happens, I love you." "I love you too." "I've got to get back to London." "I couldn't stand being in jail in Singapore." "I couldn't stand it if I couldn't see you." "Jesus Christ, it's the police!" "They must know I'm on the flight." "Well... no, not necessarily." "Due to our early arrival, passport control will take place as you leave the plane." "Please have your documents ready." "See?" "I'm scared, Lisa!" "You be strong, OK?" "Danke." "Pass, bitte." "Danke." "Thank you." "Please show your passport." "Where is your man?" "I'm her man." "250 bid on 100!" "250 bid on 100!" "Come on!" "Who wants some of that?" "250 bid on 100!" "250 bid on 100!" "Come on!" "And that's it, more or less." "That's the end ofmy story." "Barings was eventually sold to the Dutch bank ing for the princely sum of £1." "Lisa's got a new life as a flight attendant for Virgin Atlantic." "I hear she's got herself a new fella." "As for me, I fought unsuccessfully against extradition from Frankfurt to Singapore on charges of fraud, forgery and breach of trust." "I was sentenced to six and a half years in prison." "Despite rumours of secret bank accounts and hidden millions, ...I did not profit personally from my unlawful trading." "To be absolutely honest, ...sometimes I wish I had."