
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 27, 1995                   TAG: 9502280047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LONDON                                LENGTH: Short

MARKETS FALL OVER BUSTED BANK

Baring Brothers & Co., one of Britain's oldest and most prestigious investment banks, went broke when a trader lost more than $800 million gambling in Asian futures markets. Its collapse sent prices on Far East markets falling early today.

The Bank of England tried during the weekend to rescue Barings PLC, the bank's holding company, but a consortium of Britain's top banks abandoned the idea because there was no way to cap Barings' potential losses. The loss totaled more than 500 million British pounds.

The trader made huge bets on the direction of the Nikkei 225, the benchmark Japanese stock index, on the Singapore Mercantile Exchange, the source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The Business Times, a daily newspaper in Singapore, said the trader was Nicholas William Leeson, the 28-year-old general manager of Barings Future (Singapore) and its chief trader for the Nikkei contracts. Leeson also is the futures manager for the company's U.S. operations.

The Times of London said Leeson disappeared Thursday and has not been seen since.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average dropped 802.80 points, or 4.59 percent, to finish the morning session at 16,670.14 points.

Markets also fell in Singapore, Australia and the Philippines.

- Associated Press

by CNB