Talk:Nick Leeson

message: So was he allowed to keep the royalties from the book/film?
:Take a look at this snipet from a related Press Complaints Commission Case:
::2.1
::Profits from crime. It is a distasteful fact that some criminals can, and do, profit from their crimes and do so in a number of different ways. Some have been known straightforwardly to exploit their misdemeanours by conducting guided tours of the location of their crimes. Others write books: only recently it became clear that the serial killer Dennis Nilsen is writing a book, for which interested publishers are said to be offering up to 100,000 (reported in The Sunday Telegraph, 31st May 1998).
:Full link - http://www.pcc.org.uk/reports/details.asp?id=121
:Yes Leeson would've got cash from both the book and film. In fact the PCC turned down a complaint made against the Mail on Sunday that Leeson was profiting from his crime (the PCC has a code of conduct more stringent than the law in this case) - so he even indirectly profited from newspaper serialization. See the same link for more. I wonder if the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 has changed the law in this area. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 12:02, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: More direct evidence that he profited : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1406528.stm. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 12:02, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Profit from crime

message: I reverted this morning's edit, as it's C&P'd from this website . Text is copyright. - Pete C (talk) 13:31, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Copyright revert

message: Earning profits from crime seems to be a unique law only enacted in the UK, which I believe has recently changed. Nick Leeson was ordered to recinder around 50% of all monies earned towards the debt he created. By writing the book, he made a little money (nothing like JK Rowling by any stretch of the imagination, BBC reports only 50,000 pounds).. half of this had to go towards repayment. So if he had not written the book, the debt would stand approximately 25,000 less. I don't think it's accurate to simply call it "profiteering from crime" as he is not the only one who profits in this regard.
:Huh, are you kidding me here?  You think the creditors are profiting from Leeson???  Hello, Leeson owes them money!  The creditors experienced a gigantic loss. Not to mention the thousands of people whose livelihood was negatively affected by Leeson.  And here you are trying to say that Leeson didn't profit from his crime.  Repulsive. -- 66.171.76.139 16:32, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Profit 

message: The article asserts that Leeson excelled at his school, however I heard that he failed 'A' level mathematics.  I am of the same age group as Leeson, and I can state that at good universities a majority of students had passed all A levels attempted with good grades.  So there is no justification for a statement of excellence here.  So I am removing that part 87.86.125.114 (talk) 09:05, 8 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Educational excellence 

message: I am unable to find an authoritative source that supports the "short straddle" theory. 
According to a very extensive research paper published by New York University (NYU), Mr. Leeson was trading (slight paraphrase) "Futures on the Nikki (225 Index)...futures on the Japanese 10-year government bond and Euroyen futures" (page 17) http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~sbrown/leeson.PDF
According to his own Biography, Mr. Lesson also cites that he was trading futures contracts, and does not indicate anything specifically to using a "short straddle" that caused his financial demise.
"Over three months he (Nick Leeson) bought more than 20,000 futures contracts worth about $180,000 each in a vain attempt to move the market. Some three quarters of the $1.3 billion he lost Barrings resulted from these trades. When Barings executives discovered what had happened, they informed the Bank of England that Barings was effectively bust." http://www.nickleeson.com/biography/index.html
Here is a decent educational link on what are short straddles. 
http://www.voptions.com/neutral_strategies_short_straddle.htm
: From January 1994, the position in Nikkei options increased significantly when Leeson set up a large series of short straddle positions. ... The highest value was reached by the end of December 1994, when the total value of the options was approximately US$178 million. Mainly due to the Kobe Earthquake, this reversed to a loss of approximately US$108 million by the end of February 1995 (SR App. 3K, p.179).
: Is this authoritative enough for you?  So while the article currently may simplify things a bit too much (short straddles were just one of Leeson's many techniques), it appears that it's basically quite accurate. Jpatokal (talk) 11:08, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Short straddle story may not be substantiated 

message: Would it be worth mentioning that Leeson's story appeard in the Big Book of Losers? --JOK3R 15:02, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Big Book of Losers 

message: Unless I am misreading, there is a contradiction re: the publication of his first book.  The article states that he was convicted and sentenced in 1995 in Singapore, and sent to jail until 1999, at which point he returned to the UK.  The next paragraph states that his book was published after he returned to the UK.  However, according to the ref section, the book was published in 1996.  Where is the discrepancy? -Dmz5*Edits**Talk* 00:25, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Ok, fixed it.-Dmz5*Edits**Talk* 00:45, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradiction 

message: What about his wife? She stuck by him when he went to prison and took a job as an air hostess to be near him. Shouldn't she be mentioned. 145.253.108.22 11:32, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  First wife 

message: ::Leeson had debts in England, which was the reason he moved to Singapore.
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.135.206.96 (talk) 16:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is now mentioned, rather vaguely, in the article.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.194.200 (talk) 12:30, 17 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reason 

message: After Nick Leeson fled Singapore he stopped off in Labuan for a "holiday".  What many people outside of SE Asia don't know is that Labuan Island is an offshore tax and money haven.  I often wondered if there was more to his trip than just a holiday...?
--PeterMarkSmith 09:14, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well the article does say $35 million was recovered from accounts tied to him. There could be more on the otherhand it would seem more likely he would have maintained a lower profile if he still had large chunks of cash somewhere. Of course, perhaps he's using the high profile to hide where most of his money is coming from... Nil Einne 01:32, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Labuan visit 

message: I have a feeling that someone with little knowledge of financial terminology will not understand the offence that Leeson committed. It's described solely as "unauthorized speculative trades", but this term requires background knowledge to understand that isn't provided in the article. I know what it means, whoever was responsible for writing it knows what it means, but the article has to be written with a layman in mind and this would undoubtedly confuse people. We have to outline what a speculative trade is and why Leeson's actions were illegal. Blankfrackis 05:06, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Needs to be clearer 

message: Is it appropriate to include him in the category 'Fugitive Financiers' when he's no longer a fugitive?217.43.227.121 (talk) 17:54, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Fugitive

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on Nick Leeson. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120514034618/http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/4865 to http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/4865/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130927210701/http://www.tv3.ie/shows_contestants.php?request=thecelebrityapprentice to http://www.tv3.ie/shows_contestants.php?request=thecelebrityapprentice
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 21:52, 28 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 3 external links on Nick Leeson. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120329221650/http://documentarystorm.com/25-million-pounds/ to http://documentarystorm.com/25-million-pounds/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120225163904/http://www.norwood.org.uk/contact-us/pr-media/newsarchive/2007/Fundraising+News/distressed_investing_dinner_2007.htm to http://www.norwood.org.uk/contact-us/pr-media/newsarchive/2007/Fundraising+News/distressed_investing_dinner_2007.htm
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233608/http://singapore.thinkexpats.com/places/67-uniquely-singapore/90-singapores-most-infamous-convicts.html?start=2 to http://singapore.thinkexpats.com/places/67-uniquely-singapore/90-singapores-most-infamous-convicts.html?start=2
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 18:20, 21 January 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified (January 2018) 

message: Sent to Hong Kong to troubleshoot a problem in Jakarta? 
Is this sentence correct? 86.179.205.163 (talk) 20:46, 26 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sent to Hong Kong?