Mitsubishi says Singapore-based oil trader lost $ 320 m in unauthorised trades

Monday, 23 September 2019 02:34 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters): Mitsubishi Corp, Japan’s biggest trading house by revenue, said on Friday a trader at its Singapore-based unit has lost $ 320 million through unauthorised transactions in crude oil derivatives, and the matter has been reported to the Police. The announcement is a blow for the Japanese trading company, which invests in everything from salmon to natural gas and trades many commodities around the world.

It is the first loss of its kind in Mitsubishi’s history, a company spokesman told Reuters. It could be the biggest loss in oil markets since China’s Sinopec Corp said last year it had lost about $ 700 million on crude hedging. In what will be a reminder of the collapse of Barings Bank after Nick Leeson’s trades in Singapore in 1995, and the huge losses at Societe Generale by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel in 2008, the trader that Mitsubishi has alleged carried out a series of unauthorised trade this year disappeared in August.

 

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