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Rogue Trader

  • 19991999
  • RR
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
10K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Ewan McGregor in 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.
Play trailer2:11
1 Video
40 Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • History

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

IMDb RATING
6.4/10
10K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • James Dearden
  • Writers
    • James Dearden
    • Nick Leeson(autobiography)
    • Edward Whitley(book "Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World")
  • Stars
    • Ewan McGregor
    • Anna Friel
    • Cristian Solimeno
Top credits
  • Director
    • James Dearden
  • Writers
    • James Dearden
    • Nick Leeson(autobiography)
    • Edward Whitley(book "Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World")
  • Stars
    • Ewan McGregor
    • Anna Friel
    • Cristian Solimeno
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 54User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:11
    Trailer

    Photos40

    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Lee Ross in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Anna Friel in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Ewan McGregor and Lee Ross in Rogue Trader (1999)
    Rogue Trader (1999)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ewan McGregor
    Ewan McGregor
    • Nick Leesonas Nick Leeson
    Anna Friel
    Anna Friel
    • Lisa Leesonas Lisa Leeson
    Cristian Solimeno
    Cristian Solimeno
    • Steveas Steve
    Lorna Pegler
    • Girlfriend in Pubas Girlfriend in Pub
    David Fahm
    • Boyfriend in Pubas Boyfriend in Pub
    Tim McInnerny
    Tim McInnerny
    • Tony Hawesas Tony Hawes
    Cecil Chang
    • Old Custodianas Old Custodian
    Michelle Wen Lee
    • Susias Susi
    • (as Sarah Liew)
    Michael Garner
    • Alec Simsas Alec Sims
    Sharon Duce
    • Patsy Simsas Patsy Sims
    Karen Lim
    • Singapore Letting Agentas Singapore Letting Agent
    Pip Torrens
    Pip Torrens
    • Simon Jonesas Simon Jones
    Tom Wu
    Tom Wu
    • George Seowas George Seow
    Daniel York
    Daniel York
    • Henry Tanas Henry Tan
    Irene Ng
    • Bonnie Leeas Bonnie Lee
    Jennifer Lim
    Jennifer Lim
    • Kim Wongas Kim Wong
    Alexis Denisof
    Alexis Denisof
    • Fernando Guelleras Fernando Gueller
    Simon Shepherd
    Simon Shepherd
    • Peter Norrisas Peter Norris
    • Director
      • James Dearden
    • Writers
      • James Dearden
      • Nick Leeson(autobiography)
      • Edward Whitley(book "Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World")
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Ambitious, wide-eyed boy Nick Leeson (Ewan McGregor) 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, Indonesia to sort out a problem that nobody else wants, he seizes the opportunity with both hands. In Jakarta, he meets and marries Lisa (Anna Friel), 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 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, Nick completely loses control and gambles without restraint with other people's money leading inevitably to a complete financial meltdown, and the bankruptcy of the bank. —Mark Smith <msmith@osi.co.uk>
    • hare krishna
    • bank
    • money
    • barings bank
    • singapore
    • 71 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Money isn't for greedy people
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
      • History
      • Thriller
    • Certificate
      • R
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Nick Leeson was reported to have taken a share of the seven million pounds sterling that this movie earned worldwide.
    • Goofs
      In the end, Nick's plane lands in Frankfurt, Germany. However, the police cars have license plates from Munich ("F" vs. "M").
    • 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 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]

    • Connections
      Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #4.51 (2008)
    • Soundtracks
      Can't Take My Eyes off You
      Written by Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio

      Performed by Andy Williams

    User reviews54

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Pulling non-existent rabbits out of imaginary hats
    A cunning scoundrel in exotic Singapore single-handedly brings down Barings Bank, established two centuries ago and one of England's foremost financial institutions. Another wildly improbable sting flick? Not at all - the story is based on actual events and the film sticks pretty close to the facts. Nick Leeson, brilliant and ambitious young trader, superstar of the Singapore stock market, incurs staggering losses. Unwilling to jeopardize his prospects for advancement, he tries to cover his tracks by pulling non-existent rabbits out of imaginary hats. The literally gut-wrenching stress of this Sisyphusian endeavor is illustrated by Leeson's frequent bouts of vomiting (while in prison, he underwent surgery to remove a tumor along with part of his colon and large intestine, and chemotherapy after being released). The film's flaw is that it glosses over the bank's role in the disaster. Barings turned a neophyte loose in an foreign arena with total control of the operation and minimal supervision. Putting the same individual in charge of both the front office and back office bypasses the appropriate checks and balances, and is tantamount to having the fox guard the hen-house. The official report of the Bank of England concluded that Barings' failure to segregate Leeson's duties was "reprehensible," and those with "direct executive responsibility for establishing effective controls must bear much of the blame." Yet little mention is made of this in the film. And the mechanizations of the stock market are downright incomprehensible at times. Nevertheless, this is an interesting story and Ewan McGregor turns in another outstanding performance.
    helpful•20
    2
    • mystarry
    • Jul 27, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 25, 1999 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Vild satsning
    • Filming locations
      • Raffles Hotel, Singapore
    • Production companies
      • Granada Film Productions
      • Newmarket Capital Group
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $12,800,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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