Rogue Trader (1999)

The story of Nick Leeson, an ambitious investment broker who singlehandedly bankrupted one of the oldest and most important banks in Britain.

Director:

James Dearden

Writers:

James Dearden, Nick Leeson (autobiography)

Stars:

Ewan McGregor, Anna Friel, Yves Beneyton

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ewan McGregor	...	Nick Leeson
Anna Friel	...	Lisa Leeson
Yves Beneyton	...	Pierre Beaumarchais
Betsy Brantley	...	Brenda Granger
Caroline Langrishe	...	Ash Lewis
Nigel Lindsay	...	Ron Baker
Tim McInnerny	...	Tony Hawes
Irene Ng	...	Bonnie Lee
Lee Ross	...	Danny Argyropoulos
Simon Shepherd	...	Peter Norris
John Standing	...	Peter Baring
Pip Torrens	...	Simon Jones
Tom Wu	...	George Seow
Daniel York	...	Henry Tan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Danny Argyropoulos	...	Trader #1

Storyline

Ambitious, wide-eyed boy Nick Leeson is determined to rise in the world and be more than a simple bank clerk. When his employers, Barings Bank, offer him the opportunity to go to Jakarta to sort out a problem that nobody else wants, he seizes the opportunity with both hands. In Jakarta he meets and marries Lisa and together they go to Singapore when the bank offers him the job of setting up their future options trading operation. To save money the bank allows Nick to operate both the floor trading and the back office facilities and force him to employ cheap, unskilled staff. His first year of trading is a big success and he makes large profits for the bank even though he has illegally broken trading rules and secretly covered up losses. Given more freedom, even more money and continuing unchecked, Nick starts to make losses and again attempts to trade out of them but this time he comes unstuck as his illegal trading generates even bigger losses. After the death of his unborn child ...

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Plot Keywords:

hare krishna | bank | money | barings bank | singapore | 

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Taglines:

He'll risk everything to beat the system!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | History | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

Vild satsning

Filming Locations:

Fleet Street, Holborn, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$12,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£269,871 (United Kingdom), 27 June 1999, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Film Productions,Newmarket Capital Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of eight (8) films available on the 2012, 2-DVD set, "British Cinema Collections: 8 Acclaimed Films". The films are:

Disc 1: "Love Among the Ruins" (1975), "The Inheritance" (1997), Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" (1948), and Robert Louis Stevenson's "St. Ives" (1998).

Disc 2: "School for Seduction" (2004), "Dirty Pretty Things"" (2002), "ROGUE TRADER" (1999), and "Rowing with the Wind" (1988).

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Goofs

When Nick is printing a letter for the auditor, the date says December 1994. He prints this on a Canon BJC-4550 printer, which had his first sale in 1996.

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Quotes

Nick Leeson: [voiceover] My team were young, they were hungry, and they didn't have a clue.
[in a cafe with his newly hired team]
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.
[no one responds]
Nick Leeson: All right, 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 ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #4.51 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Storm 3000
Written by Neil Barnes, Paul Daley
Performed by Leftfield

User Reviews

Very exciting, heart pounding and interesting

Apart from being an extremely informative account of Nick Leeson's escapades at Baring's Bank, this film manages to integrate a great deal of suspense and drama into what could have been a dull, documentary-style catalogue of events. Ewan McGregor perfectly captures the bullish arrogance of the rogue trader who we still are able to like and admire. Some of the most energetic scenes take place in the big trading room where we see the split-second buying and selling which makes fantastic drama that really gets the adrenalin flowing. A huge amount of imagination is shown in the directing department, especially when Leeson begins to realize where he is heading. Definitely worth seeing!