Letters, Apr. 3, 1995

THE MAN WHO LOST A BILLION

"The stupidity of a 232-year-old bank in allowing a 28-year-old to trade vast sums with impunity is financial Alzheimer's." Bill Ramos Chicago

I applaud you for your insightful report on how trader Nicholas Leeson single-handedly brought down Barings, the venerable London-based investment bank [Cover Story, March 13]. You captured the vapid and temporal nature of expatriate high life in Singapore, of which Leeson was a part. Managers of companies dealing in the most sophisticated and arcane financial instruments have to master Basic Management 101. Unless they rein in their employees, another debacle of Barings' magnitude could occur in the near future. Financial regulators should be even stricter in the wake of the disasters associated with derivatives. However, responsibility for the misguided actions of the culprits ultimately rests with them and the colossal financial firms that employ them. Robin Lim New York City