Nicholas (“Nick”) William Leeson was relaxing at a luxury resort in Malaysia when he heard that Barings Bank PLC, 1 Britain’s oldest bank, had lost $1.2 billion (£860 million) and was in administration (i.e., Chapter 11 bankruptcy). He was shocked, but Leeson should not have been: it was his massive speculative losses on the futures market over a brief three-year period that wiped out the net worth of this venerable bank.