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This paper examines the collapse of Barings Bank, utilizing an extended analytical framework based on Callon's sociology of translation. It shows how Leeson linked himself inextricably with Barings’ executives need for profit, mobilizing them (and others) into defending him when his activities were subject to scrutiny. It goes on to explain the process through which Leeson effectively lost control of his socio-technical network, and concludes by examining the difficulty of Leeson's presentation of himself to the world as a ‘rogue trader’.

ODD THOUGH it is to hear [Nick Leeson] rant on about debt and irresponsibility, he has a point. The man who single-handedly broke the Queen's bank, causing the biggest financial scandal of the last century, still owes Pounds 100million to the liquidators. Yet every week, without fail, he receives one of those enticing 'plastic fantastic' offers in the post. A decade on, it still seems incredible. In 1995, Leeson, then a 28-yearold plasterer's son from Watford, went on the run after making losses of Pounds 860 million at Barings, the oldest merchant bank in the City of London. 'I know it's not dealing with money on the scale that I was at Barings, and it is a very different field, but it gets all the old juices going. I have targets to meet.' What is interesting about Leeson's book is that it attempts to explain why he acted as he did.

Arrested whilst on the run at Frankfurt airport a week later, Nick Leeson proceeded to recount what was to become the biggest financial fraud of the 20th century. Born the son of a plasterer in Watford (London), Leeson rose to become the Chief Trader in Singapore of the United Kingdom's oldest investment bank, Barings. By the early 1990s, Leeson had become Barings' star trader; by 1993 he was responsible for 10% of the bank's profits. As Chief Trader, from 1992 Leeson began to make unauthorized speculative trades on the Nikkei 225, initially making large profits, but soon generating large losses. On 17th January 1995, a large earthquake hit Kobe in Japan, sending the Nikkei, and Leeson's position, into a nose‐dive. Requesting extra funds to continue trading, Leeson took a series of risky long, un‐hedged positions; this time betting that the Nikkei would stabilize at 19,000 points.

Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank with losses of £1.3bn, is set to host an event next month on the importance of getting recruitment decisions right.

  As long as China's financial reforms lag, Beijing shouldn't be given new channels to affect world markets. If China's stock markets are included on global indices, it would allow China's economic troubles to spill over to other countries. It would also provide an opportunity for financial fraudsters in China to expand their operations. Chinese regulators are starting to grasp the problem. On May 12, one day after [Nick Leeson]'s warning, Securities and Futures Commission chairman Carlson Tong |Ka-shing pledged to clamp down on \"any unusual share movement\". But capital flows have accelerated so much - with millions of mainlanders having signed up for multiple trading accounts - that it's not clear if regulators will know where to start. (President Xi Jinping's crackdown on international media hasn't helped matters. Shielded from the scrutiny of journalists, corporate China has become more opaque in its financial dealings.)

As long as China's financial reforms lag, Beijing shouldn't be given new channels to affect world markets. If China's stock markets are included on global indices, it would allow China's economic troubles to spill over to other countries. It would also provide an opportunity for financial fraudsters in China to expand their operations. Chinese regulators are starting to grasp the problem. On May 12, one day after [Nick Leeson]'s warning, Securities and Futures Commission chairman Carlson Tong |Ka-shing pledged to clamp down on \"any unusual share movement\". But capital flows have accelerated so much - with millions of mainlanders having signed up for multiple trading accounts - that it's not clear if regulators will know where to start. (President Xi Jinping's crackdown on international media hasn't helped matters. Shielded from the scrutiny of journalists, corporate China has become more opaque in its financial dealings.)

As long as China's financial reforms lag, Beijing shouldn't be given new channels to affect world markets. If China's stock markets are included on global indices, it would allow China's economic troubles to spill over to other countries. It would also provide an opportunity for financial fraudsters in China to expand their operations. Chinese regulators are starting to grasp the problem. On May 12, one day after [Nick Leeson]'s warning, Securities and Futures Commission chairman Carlson Tong |Ka-shing pledged to clamp down on \"any unusual share movement\". But capital flows have accelerated so much - with millions of mainlanders having signed up for multiple trading accounts - that it's not clear if regulators will know where to start. (President Xi Jinping's crackdown on international media hasn't helped matters. Shielded from the scrutiny of journalists, corporate China has become more opaque in its financial dealings.)

  As long as China's financial reforms lag, Beijing shouldn't be given new channels to affect world markets. If China's stock markets are included on global indices, it would allow China's economic troubles to spill over to other countries. It would also provide an opportunity for financial fraudsters in China to expand their operations. Chinese regulators are starting to grasp the problem. On May 12, one day after [Nick Leeson]'s warning, Securities and Futures Commission chairman Carlson Tong |Ka-shing pledged to clamp down on \"any unusual share movement\". But capital flows have accelerated so much - with millions of mainlanders having signed up for multiple trading accounts - that it's not clear if regulators will know where to start. (President Xi Jinping's crackdown on international media hasn't helped matters. Shielded from the scrutiny of journalists, corporate China has become more opaque in its financial dealings.)

His son \"just took it in his stride\", [Nick Leeson] says. How? \"You know, 'Can I get back on your phone and play Fifa?' or whatever.\" Today marks exactly two decades since Leeson and his then wife, Lisa, fled Singapore after he finally admitted to her that he had \"lost a lot If you're an expert in busts, the past few years haven't been bad for business. \"Strangely so,\" he admits. \"The world of banking is always good to me, because it throws out a bone from time to time by shooting itself in the foot.\" Even among rogue traders, he points out, \"I'm way down there now.\" Kweku Adoboli lost Swiss bank UBS pounds 1.5bn in 2011; three years earlier, Jerome Kerviel holed Societe Generale with losses of pounds 3.7bn. \"pounds 166bn! I lost pounds 862m. So the fines are far outweighing the losses, and still nothing's changing.\" What's the common thread between his fraud and subsequent scandals? Hubris? Greed? \"Everybody keeps away from the word greed, but that's what the industry is about. I don't think you could find a bank that sets themselves a target and, once they get there, is happy with it. They always want to exceed that and go further. It's also extremely competitive, and in my opinion it just is improperly policed.\"

Despite the fact that his work as an after-dinner speaker now earns him a comfortable living, he says he doesn't believe in motivational speaking (\"You have to motivate yourself.\"). He's met some of the world's most in-demand speakers -- Mikhail Gorbachev, David Frost, Stephen Fry -- but the only one he was affected by was Aaron Ralston, the American who cut off hit own right arm after becoming trapped by a rock in the Arizona desert, inspiring the film 127 Hours. \"I didn't know who he was when I met him,\" says [Nick Leeson] sheepishly. \"I tried to shake his hand...\" After travelling the world telling his story, he fell in love with a girl from Waterford. Sick of commuting between Ireland and the UK, they moved to Galway in 2003 and he later became heavily involved with Galway FC, building on his lifelong love of football. He loves Ireland, he says, and adores Irish people, though the average Paddy borrower still gets a telling off. \"Irish people definitely have a different attitude to debt compared to the UK population,\" he says. \"In the UK, people understand they will lose their house if they don't pay their debts. Here, we see people who haven't paid a penny towards their mortgage in four years and are still surprised to get letters from their banks. It's mostly because there's no history of repossession here.\" The shame attached to being in debt is just as toxic as the debt itself, he says. \"Lots of big Irish companies have had their debts restructured over the years. Why should individuals be shamed for the same thing?\" If I didn't live in Galway, the place I would live in is... Somewhere warm! The last meal I really enjoyed was... Dinner at Cleaver East, Dublin, two weeks ago. They do a kind of fusion tapas, strange but gorgeous. My greatest indulgence is... I'm not sure... I don't really have one. I rarely drink, I don't enjoy it. My favourite websites are... Google News! I'm not loyal to any one media source. I've been coloured by experience. Lots of incorrect things have been written about me. The best gift I've given was... I gave Garth Brooks tickets to my mother-inlaw. My favourite piece of clothing is... Anything casual. An unforgettable place I've travelled to in the last year is I went to Stellenbosch in South Africa with my wife and family in November, it was spectacular. The last music I downloaded was... I'm not a big music fan and I've never downloaded a song in my life! I listen to i102 - 104 at home. The books on my bedside table are... There aren't any -- I only read when I'm travelling. At the moment I'm reading 'The Hour Between Dog and Wolf ' -- a book by John Coates about the neurology of trading. What I like to do when I'm not working... I'm a massive sports fan, particularly football, though I've ended my association with Galway FC [Leeson was chief executive there for a time]. Football is a tough sport in this country. I used to box when I was younger and I follow a bit of GAA now -- my youngest son is an avid hurler.