Former ‘rogue trader’ lands job as adviser to hard-up borrowers

Nick Leeson, the former rogue trader who brought down Britain’s oldest investment bank, has a new job as a partner in an Irish firm advising borrowers struggling to make loan repayments.

Mr Leeson, whose £827m loss as a Singapore-based junior derivatives trader led to the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank, has joined GDP Partners, the company said in a statement yesterday.

“His experience and background will add significant value to what we are trying to achieve on behalf of our clients,” GDP Partners said.

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The Dublin-based company assists borrowers with non-performing debts of more than 1 million euros.

“There might be wry smiles from people when they think of me walking into a bank to negotiation on their behalf,” Mr Leeson, 46, told Irish national broadcaster RTE.

“(But) there is a certain degree of empathy with what people are facing.

“It’s daunting when people are facing something they don’t understand.”

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After spending three-and-a-half years in a Singapore jail, Mr Leeson wrote a book called Rogue Trader which was later made into a film starring Ewan McGregor.

Dutch bank ING bought Barings after its collapse for the nominal sum of £1 and assumed all its liabilities.

Mr Leeson has lived in Ireland for a decade, during which time he acted as chief executive at Irish football club Galway United. He is also a regular on the public speaking circuit.

Since he arrived the Irish economy has unravelled under the weight of a massive property bubble and the country’s banks are struggling to deal with a mountain of bad debt.

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Mr Leeson will advise clients on new bankruptcy laws and a new non-judicial system of settling secured and unsecured debts of up to 3 million euros.

He said: “I’ve faced into a number of difficult situations in the past and ultimately seen them turn for the better. It is often difficult to see the solution but rest assured there is one available.”

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