THE COLLAPSE OF BARINGS: THE LESSONS TO BE LEARNT Available to Purchase

On 26th February, 1995 much of the UK merchant banking group Barings was placed in administration following a failed attempt by the Bank of England to find a buyer in the wake of massive losses incurred on unauthorised trades. The group, however, was subsequently bought by the Dutch financial services group ING. While recognising that many parties contributed, directly or indirectly, to the collapse of Barings, this paper focuses on the role played by the Bank of England as the main UK supervisor of the Group. It draws upon the findings of the official enquiries conducted in both the UK (by the Board of Banking Supervision) and Singapore (on behalf of the Singapore Ministry of Finance).