Which UK investment bank collapsed in 1995 due to rogue trading?

Barings Bank was the UK investment bank that collapsed in 1995 because of rogue trading.

The central figure was Nick Leeson, a derivatives trader stationed in Singapore. He was supposed to conduct arbitrage between Nikkei 225 futures markets, but he began making unauthorized bets with Barings’ money. To conceal losses, he used an error account numbered 88888 and falsified records and reports.

The losses grew sharply after the January 1995 Kobe earthquake disrupted Japanese markets. By the time the fraud was discovered, Leeson’s losses totaled about £827 million, or roughly $1.3 billion—more than twice Barings’ available trading capital. The 233-year-old bank was declared insolvent on February 26, 1995.

A key lesson was the danger of weak internal controls: Leeson effectively combined trading and settlement responsibilities, allowing him to hide his positions. ING purchased Barings later in 1995 for the nominal price of £1 and assumed its liabilities. The story was later dramatized in the film Rogue Trader.