Did Nick Leeson have an Accomplice? the Role of Information Technology in the Collapse of Barings Bank

Abstract

This paper analyses how Nick Leeson exploited information technology (IT) in order to trade without authority and thereby causing Barings Bank to collapse. What emerges suggests that, not only can IT systems enable malfeasance on a large scale, but that very little specialist knowledge is required in order to turn the computer into an accomplice. The most disturbing feature of the Barings Bank debacle is the contrast between the mundane act of suppressing a control mechanism and the consequences that flowed from this act. It is argued that organizational security ultimately lies in knowing the limits of one's information.