The man behind Leeson tells of office nightmare

HISTORY WILL BE an unfairly harsh judge of Nick Leeson, the man who collapsed investment bank Barings in 1995. So says Tony Dickel, managing director of headhunter Management Recruiters International Hong Kong (MRI), whose greatest claim to fame, whether he likes it or not, is probably that he brought Leeson out from London to join the Barings futures team in Singapore.

Fresh from sorting out the futures and options settlements department in London, Leeson at 24 was regarded as hot stuff, says Mr Dickel. 'We wanted him. He was intelligent, a self-made man and, like lots of London East End guys in securities at that time, very bright.'

Nevertheless, Mr Dickel was wary of Leeson's ambitions and warned when he left later to join ABN Amro that Leeson, who was then running the back office, should be kept on a tight rein.

But Leeson became head of the futures operations, back and front, with day-to-day responsibility for trading and settlements. 'He would do trades, and confirmation of trades came to him too. It was the nightmare scenario,' says Mr Dickel.

Leeson was protective towards his staff - usually a good thing, but this was his downfall, believes Mr Dickel. The problem started small and snowballed, by his covering up someone else's trade that did not reconcile.

What followed is now history, but 'it all started because of one member of staff, who was warned and told 'we'll run it overnight and trade out of it in the morning'.'