List of trading losses

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following contains a list of trading losses of the equivalent of USD100 million or higher. Due to the secretive nature of many hedge funds and fund managers, some notable losses may never be reported to the public. The list is ordered by the real amount lost, starting with the greatest.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
# Nominal Amount Lost USD FX Rate at time of loss USD Equivalent at time of loss USD Inflation since loss until 2007-12-31[1] Real Amount Lost Country Company Source of Loss Year Person(s) associated with incident
1 EUR 4.9 bn  1.45 USD 7.1 bn  0 % USD 7.1 bn  Flag of France France Société Générale[2] European Index Futures 2008 Kerviel, JérômeJérôme Kerviel
2 USD 6.5 bn  1 USD 6.5 bn  3 % USD 6.7 bn  Flag of Canada Canada Amaranth Advisors[3] Gas Futures 2006 Hunter, BrianBrian Hunter
3 USD 4.6 bn  1 USD 4.6 bn  27 % USD 5.85 bn  Flag of the United States United States Long Term Capital Management[4] Interest Rate and Equity Derivatives 1998 Meriwether, JohnJohn Meriwether
4 JPY 285 bn  109.5 USD 2.6 bn  32 % USD 3.44 bn  Flag of Japan Japan Sumitomo Corporation[5] Copper Futures 1996 Hamanaka, YasuoYasuo Hamanaka
5 USD 1.7 bn[6] 1 USD 1.7 bn  40 % USD 2.38 bn  Flag of the United States United States Orange County[7] Interest Rate Derivatives 1994 Citron, RobertRobert Citron
6 EUR 1.4 bn  1.25 USD 1.9 bn  3 % USD 1.97 bn  Flag of Austria Austria BAWAG[8] Foreign Exchange Trading 2000 Flöttl, WolfgangWolfgang Flöttl, Helmut Elsner[9]
7 DEM 2.63 bn  0.52 USD 1.38 bn  43 % USD 1.96 bn  Flag of Germany Germany Metallgesellschaft[10] Oil Futures 1993 Schimmelbusch, HeinzHeinz Schimmelbusch[11]
8 GBP 827 mio  1.6 USD 1.323 bn  36 % USD 1.8 bn  Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Barings Bank[12] Nikkei Futures 1995 Leeson, NickNick Leeson
9 JPY 103.4 bn  94 USD 1.1 bn  36 % USD 1.5 bn  Flag of Japan Japan Daiwa Bank[13] Bonds 1995 Iguchi, ToshihideToshihide Iguchi
10 EUR 0.60 bn  USD 0.82 bn  Flag of Germany Germany WestLB [14] Common and Preferred Shares 2007 Breuers, FriedhelmFriedhelm Breuers[15]
11 CAD 829 mio USD 0.8 bn  Flag of the United States United States Bank of Montreal[16] Natural Gas Options 2007 Lee, DavidDavid Lee[17]
12 USD 0.69 bn  Flag of the United States United States AIB/Allfirst[18] Foreign Exchange Options 2002 Rusnak, JohnJohn Rusnak
13 GBP 0.4 bn  USD 0.7 bn  Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Morgan Grenfell[19] Shares 1997 Young, PeterPeter Young
14 USD 0.6 bn  Flag of the United States United States Askin Capital Management[20] Mortgage-Backed Securities 1994 Askin, DavidDavid Askin
15 USD 0.55 bn  Flag of the People's Republic of China China China Aviation Oil (Singapore)[21] Oil Futures and Options 2004 Jiulin, ChenChen Jiulin
16 CHF 0.63 bn  USD 0.5 bn  United Bank of Switzerland[22] Equity Derivatives 1998 Goldstein, RamyRamy Goldstein
17 USD 0.4 bn  Flag of the United States United States Manhattan Investment Fund[23] Short IT stocks during the internet bubble 2000 Berger, MichaelMichael Berger
18 EUR 0.30 bn  USD 0.4 bn  Flag of Austria Austria Hypo Group Alpe Adria[24] Foreign Exchange Trading 2004
19 EUR 0.30 bn  USD 0.4 bn  Dexia Bank[25] Corporate Bonds 2001
20 DEM 0.47 bn  USD 0.36 bn  Flag of Germany Germany Herstatt Bank[26] Foreign Exchange Trading 1974 Dattel, DanyDany Dattel
21 USD 0.35 bn  Flag of the United States United States Kidder Peabody[27] Government Bonds 1994 Jett, JosephJoseph Jett
22 USD 0.35 bn  Flag of the United States United States Calyon[28] Credit Derivatives 2007 Bierbaum, Richard "Chip"Richard "Chip" Bierbaum
23 AUD 0.36 bn  USD 0.28 bn  Flag of Australia Australia National Australia Bank[29] Foreign Exchange Trading 2004 Duffy, LukeLuke Duffy
24 USD 0.28 bn  Flag of the United States United States State of West Virginia[30] Fixed Income and Interest Rate Derivatives 1987 Manchin , A. JamesA. James Manchin
25 USD 0.2 bn  Flag of the People's Republic of China China State Reserves Bureau[31] Copper Futures 2005 Qibing, LiuLiu Qibing[32]
26 USD 0.28 bn  Flag of the United States United States Merrill Lynch[33] Mortgages (IOs and POs) Trading 1987 Rubin, Howard A.Howard A. Rubin
27 USD 0.16 bn  Flag of the United States United States Procter & Gamble[34] Interest Rate Derivatives 1994 Mains, RaymondRaymond Mains
28 GBP 90  mio  USD 0.2 bn  Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom NatWest[35] Interest Rate Options 1997 Papouis, KyriacosKyriacos Papouis
29 USD 0.14 bn  Flag of the United States United States MF Global[36] Wheat Futures 2008 Dooley, EvanEvan Dooley
30 USD 0.11 bn  Flag of the United States United States Cuyahoga County, Ohio[37] Leveraged Fixed Income 1994
31 SEK 630 mio  USD 0.1 bn  Flag of Sweden Sweden Carnegie Investment Bank[38] Equity Derivatives 2007
32 USD 0.1 bn  Flag of Croatia Croatia Riječka banka (Rijeka Bank)[39] Foreign Exchange Trading 2002 Nodilo, EduardEduard Nodilo

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Consumer Price Index.
  2. ^ Schwartz, Nelson D. (2008-01-25). A Spiral of Losses by a ‘Plain Vanilla’ Trader. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  3. ^ Brian Hunter, Amaranth, hedge funds, MoneyWeek, 2006-10-06. Retrieved 2008-03-21
  4. ^ FAILED WIZARDS OF WALL STREET, BusinessWeek, 1998-09-21. Retrieved 2008-03-21
  5. ^ Rogue copper trader draws eight-year prison term, Japan Times, 1998-03-26. Retrieved 2008-03-21
  6. ^ The Effect of the Orange County Bankruptcy on Residential Real Estate Prices, Thomas A. Evans, Chicago Graduate School of Business, November 14, 2006
  7. ^ Greenwald, John. "The California Wipeout", Time Magazine, December 19, 1994. Retrieved on 2007-07-22. 
  8. ^ Bawag Scrutiny Mounts, Putting CEO to the Test, October 21, 2005, Wall Street Journal
  9. ^ Trial begins Monday for suspects in Austrian bank scandal, July 13, 2007, International Herald Tribune
  10. ^ New York Times, April 5, 1996
  11. ^ International Harald Tribune, August 10, 2007
  12. ^ Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World by Nick Leeson and Edward Whitley (Hardcover - Mar 1996) ISBN 0-3165-1856-5
  13. ^ An Unusual Path to Big-Time Trading, New York Times, September 27, 1995. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  14. ^ Pressure mounts on WestLB to merge after reporting big trading losses, International Herald Tribune, August 30, 2007
  15. ^ WestLB ousts top traders after losses, Times Online, April 5, 2007
  16. ^ Canadian Bank Face-Off, Investopedia, September 03, 2007
  17. ^ Bank of Montreal Raises Trading Loss to C$680 Million, Bloomberg, May 17, 2007
  18. ^ Allied Irish Banks case study at ERisk.com
  19. ^ Morgan Grenfell case study at ERisk.com
  20. ^ Sad episodes of Global securitisation: The Hall of Shame
  21. ^ "Jail term for China Aviation boss", BBC News, 21 March 2006
  22. ^ The Fall of the UBS: The Reasons Behind the Decline of the Union Bank of Switzerland by Dirk Schutz, ISBN 0944188206
  23. ^ The Bankruptcy Development That Has Wall St. Worried, New York Times, 2007-02-23. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  24. ^ Banking: Watchdogs caught napping, Financial Times, 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  25. ^ Dexia sink €300m in bond fraud: a mere drop in the ocean
  26. ^ Der Fall der Goldjungen, Ex-Devisenhändler Danny Dattel klagt noch vor dem Bezirksgericht (de)
  27. ^ In the Matter of Orlando Joseph Jett, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, March 5, 2004
  28. ^ Calyon trader fired over big losses says he is not a rogue, International Herald Tribune, 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  29. ^ Former NAB trader pleads guilty, International Herald Tribune, 2005-03-23. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  30. ^ Treasurer of West Virginia Retires Over Fund's Losses , New York Times, July 10, 1989. Retrieved 2008-03-22
  31. ^ City gripped by mystery of the phantom copper dealer, The Times, 2005-11-15. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  32. ^ Copper bottom, The Observer, November 20, 2005
  33. ^ Anatomy of a Staggering Loss, New York Times, 1987-05-11, Retrieved 2008-01-24
  34. ^ Procter & Gamble's Tale of Derivatives Woe, International Herald Tribune, 1994-04-14. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  35. ^ SFO probes NatWest black hole, Daily Telegraph, 1997-06-27. Retrieved 2008-01-24
  36. ^ Rogue Wheat Trader Blamed for $141 Million Loss, NYTimes.com, 2006-02-28. Retrieved 2008-03-03
  37. ^ Significant Losses Stemming from the Termination of Its SAFE Investment Program Erode County's Previously Substantial Financial Margins, Business Wire, Jan 5, 1995. Retrieved 2008-03-22
  38. ^ Carnegie's board ordered to resign, Financial Times, 2007-09-28
  39. ^ Croat trader puts bank in £70m crisis, Daily Telegraph, 2003-03-24. Retrieved 2008-01-24
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