A rogue's gallery of trading

Nick Leeson was jailed for fraud in 1995 after losing $1.2 billion and bringing down Barings Bank

By CNN's Liz George

LONDON, England (CNN) -- There is hardly a major investment bank that has not had its share of rogue trades.

Perhaps the most infamous of them all, Nick Leeson, brought down Barings Bank after losing $1.2 billion on Asian markets. He was jailed for fraud in 1995.

Even bigger were the $1.3 billion losses at Sumitomo Bank, blown away by metals trader Yasuo Hamanaka -- known as Mr. Five Percent on account of his share of the world copper market. He was jailed in 1996.

The same year, unauthorised investments cost Morgan Grenfell $308 million. The case hit the headlines when the fund manager, Peter Young, appeared in court wearing a woman's jumper and dress and was found unfit to stand trial.

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In 2000, two NatWest traders ran up losses of more than $126 million. The bank was punished by City of London watchdogs with a six-figure fine.

And last year Merrill Lynch sacked two senior executives for failing to supervise a currency dealer who diverted $9.8 million to favoured clients.

But rogue trades are not always intentional. Last May, London's FTSE dropped more than 2 percent after a trader accidentally added an extra zero -- £300 million instead of £30 million.

And in 1998, a Salomon Brothers trader accidentally sold $1.19 billion worth of French government bonds when he leaned on his keyboard.