"There is nobody in the world that wishes it didn't happen more than me," explains Nick Leeson when asked about his own rogue trading scandal, which resulted in $1.4 billion in trading losses and the bankruptcy of Barings Bank, then the oldest investment bank in the United Kingdom. Leeson since has spent more than six years in a Singapore prison, survived cancer, divorced and remarried. He now is CEO of the Galway United Football Club in Ireland. "Success was something that I always craved, and ultimately, I'm going to be remembered for my biggest failure -- and I have to come to terms with that and live with that," Leeson says. "As much success as I had, I always wanted more.

But that need for success got out of control, and when there were tests of my basic honesty and integrity, I failed." He contnues: "If I look back at that period, for somebody who wanted success and craved success, it has to be described as the most embarrassing period of my life."

So does Leeson do any trading today? Only in small amounts and only for his own accounts, he says. But Leeson does dabble when there is volatility in the markets. "I'll look at currency or an index," he explains. "Volatility is something that traders love, and if you get it right, it has big rewards. But if you get it wrong, it can be very painful." And Leeson certainly is familiar with the pain of failure.