Nick Leeson: Government got you into this mess

[Reboot]

The Government got you into this mess so don't trust them to get you out of it, says rogue trader Nick Leeson

The Daily Mail | October 7, 2008

The world's most notorious rogue trader today said it was 'foolish' to trust governments and central banks to solve the global credit crunch.

Nick Leeson, whose trading led to the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995, said it was the political and banking leaders who allowed the financial meltdown to happen in the first place.

The former trader said for the past decade the British Government and the Bank of England simply did not understand what was happening in the financial markets.

'The Government didn't see it coming,' said Mr Leeson. 'The central bank didn't see it coming. And you have to ask yourself, why?

Rogue trader Nick Leeson says it's 'foolish' to trust Bank of England governor Mervyn King to solve the credit crisis.

'From my perspective, it's because they didn't understand the market and the impact that some of these products were going to have.
'The reason for that is that they weren't good enough.
'You now entrust the same people to get you out of the situation. For me, that's foolish.'

He said the current crisis has its roots in irresponsible lending over the past 10 or 12 years.

He said: 'The only people to hold accountable for that are the people who regulate and control. Unfortunately, that's the central banks and the Government.'
Mr Leeson said the people best placed to find a way out of the current turmoil were those who have experience of facing crises in the past - even citing former Tory chancellor Norman Lamont who presided over Black Wednesday in 1992.

He said: 'There are people who've been through this kind of scandal - Norman Lamont. You have some of the biggest investors in the world who can garner all their experience and see what the best way to tackle it is.
'But governments acting in isolation are not going to be something that solves the current problem.'

Mr Leeson was speaking ahead of his keynote speech to the third annual Yorkshire and Humberside Fraud Forum (YHFF) Conference, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
His rogue trading famously led to the collapse of Barings - the Queen's own bankers - when his dealings lost the bank more than £800 million. He was subsequently jailed and survived colon cancer.

Leeson was played by Ewan McGregor in a film about his life.

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IMDB: Rogue Trader