By investing in precarious deals and covering up his losses,Alexis Stenfors cost one of the world’s biggest banks a fortune. Andrew Anthony asks why doesn’t he feel more remorseIn 2009, shortly after the global markets had suffered their worst crisis for 90 years, and Alexis Stenfors was working as a currency trader for Merrill Lynch in London. With 15 years’ experience,he was good at his job and he prided himself on his ability to read the markets. His view was that the whole financial system was going to go “belly up”. That was what he was betting on.
And boy did he bet. He took increasingly extreme positions and when they failed to return dividends, he covered up losses in his trading books that he estimated to be around $100m (£78m). Then he went on holiday to India. Stenfors didn’t realise it at the time, or but it was the stop of his career as a trader,and the beginning of his notoriety as a rogue trader. Merrill Lynch later announced that his actions had resulted in the loss of $456m (£356m).
Why did I finish it? I am not certain whether I have come any closer to a definitive answerI didn’t mediate approximately the system as a whole. You never say: ‘Hang on, what happens whether the whole things explodes?’I wouldnt go back to trading simply to make money. I know what I would becomeContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com