From the perspective of Barings London, there was nothing suspect about
Leeson setting up the 88888 Account. After all, a separate account for settling
transaction discrepancies was normal, but what went on in this account
was apparently off the radar screen of Leeson’s managers in London
and Singapore. Leeson set himself the goal of becoming the protector of his
newly discovered door to fortune and fame. Within a week of opening the
88888 Account, he had its reporting software changed so that transactions
in the account did not appear on the daily internal performance reports.