Be a City trader its not terribly difficult

Theres a lovely moment in Nick Leesons book, Rogue Trader, when he comments on a statement made by Peter Baring, the former chairman of Barings Bank. Leeson is writing, of course, after he had single-handedly brought down his employer, having run up huge losses in the Singapore futures exchange. Before the crash Peter Baring was reported to have said to a Bank of England director that it was not terribly difficult to make money in the securities business. Leeson thought this comment laughable, if not tragic: As I stood in the box and grabbed phones, signalled to George or Fat Boy, bought and sold, watched the market lurch about, gobbled sweets and even chewed the trading cards themselves, I imagined Peter Barings quiet voice in some lofty office in the Bank of England as he sat back on a leather sofa and stirred his Earl Grey tea and admired his brightly polished toe caps, ...not terribly difficult.

This is just one of the passages that so perfectly captures the huge gulf that existed, and probably still does, between establishment figures in the City, groomed at the countrys best schools and the Oxbridge universities, and a newcomer like Leeson a plasterers son from Watford. To some extent Leeson was invisible to people like Peter Barings and Peter Norris the former chief executive of Barings who met Leeson but failed to really see him or question the numbers that were clearly not adding up. It is reminiscent of a book by the novelist Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man, in which the protagonist, a black American, discovers that he can get away with things other people cannot because he is not really seen by white people. Indeed, it is striking how easy Leeson found it to deceive Barings top directors.

In this issue, we look at how the City has fared since the Leeson disaster and discover that while companies are using more sophisticated vetting processes for new hires and internal promotions these are by no means foolproof. And, while Schroder Salomon Smith Barney has introduced a diversity director a novelty in the City we find that traders can still behave badly, even though they may not be as bad as they used to be.

Last year dotcoms were all the rage. Now that the pendulum has swung the other way, people are in danger of underestimating the potential of e-business. Certainly from an HR point of view they still beat traditional companies in terms of sheer energy, spontaneity and entrepreneurial spirit. We interview Jungle.coms founder, Steve Bennett, and Barry Wiggins who has worked closely with Bennett since the latter talent-spotted him in a Birmingham chippy. Jungle.com was sold recently to GUS and Bennett is now its head of e-tail. Can a restless e-business entrepreneur thrive inside an old-style corporation like GUS? Your guess is as good as mine.

Morice Mendoza

Editor