Rogue Trader (1999)

Actors

• Yves Beneyton (actor)
• Guy Boardman (actor)
• Ian Boo Khoo (actor)
• Cecil Chang (actor)
• Gerald Chew (actor)
• Alexis Denisof (actor)
• David Fahm (actor)
• Michael Garner (actor)
• Mark Heenehan (actor)
• Ivan Heng (actor)
• Gaurav Kripalani (actor)
• Peter Sakon Lee (actor)
• Rob Lemming (actor)
• Kay Siu Lim (actor)
• Danny Argyropoulos (actor)

Genres

• Crime
• Drama
• History
• Thriller

Taglines:

He'll risk everything to beat the system!

Quotes:

Nick Leeson: [looking into the mirror] I, Nicholas Leeson, have lost 50 million quid... IN ONE DAY!

Nick Leeson: I'd never even heard of Barings before I started working for 'em. It's not like there's a Barings Bank in Watford.::Lisa Leeson: Well, you're a big hero back in London, they think the sun shines out your arse.::Nick Leeson: Really? I was beginning to feel like one of those Japanese soldiers, you know, still stuck out in the jungle 20 years after the war.::Lisa Leeson: What's it like here? They tell it's not safe to go out at night.::Nick Leeson: That's bollocks, the locals are great. Best thing about this place is it's not still full of pompous ex-colonials who think they were born to rule the world. That's what I love about Asia, anyone can make it, it doesn't matter which stupid school you went to.::Lisa Leeson: When they told me I was going to Jakarta I had to look it up on a map.::Nick Leeson: [smiles] As a matter of fact, so did I.

[Nick is sitting in a cafe with his Asian recruits who are going to assist him on the trading floor and back office]::Nick Leeson: [voiceover] My team were young, they were hungry, and they didn't have a clue.::[to the others]::Nick Leeson: A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specified amount of a commodity at a specified price at a future date.::[they look at him blankly]::Nick Leeson: Alright, um... It's like if I agree to sell you this cup of cappuccino, which I don't yet own, at 45 cents a month from now, if I can buy the cappuccino at say, 43 cents, I make a profit. If the price goes the other way, I have to pay more and I lose. It's timing, it's buying and selling at the right moment. Sometimes expresso might be the best deal, or salt or pepper.::George Seow: So, we're running a supermarket, huh?::[they laugh]

[George pulls up in a brand new open-top Porsche 911]::George Seow: Get in, you bastard!::Nick Leeson: [laughing] What the fuck is that?::George Seow: Sex on wheels. It's a Porsche, moron! Get in!::Nick Leeson: [getting in] I'll tell you what it is, it's disgusting.::George Seow: I'll tell you what it is, it's a great big hard-on.::[he drives away]::George Seow: Gotta think of something to do with my bonus!::Nick Leeson: Well you keep your eyes on the road, you flash git!

[Nick and Danny have mooned a group of women in a bar, and now they've returned with the police]::Nick Leeson: Oh, you've got to be joking.::Policeman: No laughing matter. Outraging a lady's modesty, very serious crime in Singapore.

Tony Hawes: He doesn't do things by the book, Ron. He just doesn't respect the rules. Is he really the kind of person we should be employing at Barings?::Ron Baker: Oh, fuck the rules, Tony. It's barrow boys like Nick who are turning the City of London around. You can't run a modern financial centre with a bunch of Hooray Henries.

[Unknown to his superiors, Nick has gotten very deep in debt. As he walks up to the clubhouse to have dinner with the Chief Executive of Barings Bank Peter Norris, he vomits in front of a Rolls-Royce]::Nick Leeson: [looking at his reflection in the car's grille] Looking like shit, Nick. Looking like fucking shit, mate.

Peter Norris: Now, we've had a lot of stick over funding. Brenda Granger tells me we're borrowing all over Japan to get the funds to you. People are beginning to talk, Nick.::Nick Leeson: I understand. I understand completely.::Peter Norris: Excellent. Good man.::[he goes back to chat with his colleagues]::Nick Leeson: [voiceover] And that was it. That was apparently all he had to say on the subject of my enormous exposure that was causing so many ulcers throughout the Barings empire.

[At dinner with the Barings executives]::Tony Hawes: You're down for 450, aren't you? Your bonus? Only a week to go.::Nick Leeson: Sorry?::Tony Hawes: Have you thought about what you're going to do with it? Only a week to go.::[Nick taps his glass and stands up]::Nick Leeson: Excuse me, I have an announcement to make. I know that some of you are worried about our exposure in the market and you're probably wondering about the identity of our mystery customer X. Well, the fact is he doesn't exist. We are the customer, Barings. And if you look properly at the five eights account, which is not a client account at all, it's an errors account, you'll realise that it's concealing losses in the region of 200 million pounds. No, I tell a lie, it's more like 230 after today.::[the others all suddenly start vomiting in shock. The picture fades back to Nick sitting silent at the table a few moments earlier - Nick's just been daydreaming]::Tony Hawes: Only a week to go. What are you going to do with all that money?::Nick Leeson: Well, I'm not going to spend it on futures and options.::[the others laugh]

Peter Baring: [getting off the phone] That was the Sultan of Brunei's office. They've decided not to proceed, they believe the risks are too great and the time too short in view of the need to have a rescue package in place by the time the markets open again in the Far East.::Simon Jones: Is there really no one else?::Peter Norris: We've tried everyone. It's hopeless.::Peter Baring: I therefore have to inform you that Barings is insolvent and will go into immediate liquidation.::[Peter Norris bursts into tears]

Leeson, Nick Filmography

• How Video Games Changed the World
  2013, role: actor , character name: Himself
• The City Uncovered with Evan Davis
  2009, role: actor , character name: Himself
• Rogue Trader
  1999, role: writer
• Manê kakumei
  1998, role: actor , character name: Himself