You may ask, “What well-managed bank would allow its chief trader to be in charge of the back office, as well?” The answer is easier to understand once you realize that, initially, Barings’ Singapore branch was supposed to be executing orders placed exclusively by Barings affiliates worldwide on behalf of their customers. It was some time afterward that BFS also began to conduct independent arbitrage transactions, but from the standpoint of Barings London, this new line of business posed no major security breach. BFS was not supposed to be involved in any trading for the house’s account, so Barings’ management might have reasoned that any loss of control by putting Leeson in charge of the front and back offices was offset by the cost savings of having one person cover two tasks.