List of trading losses


The following contains a list of trading losses of the equivalent of USD100 million or higher. Trading losses are the amount of principal losses in an account. Because of the secretive nature of many hedge funds and fund managers, some notable losses may never be reported to the public. The list is ordered by the real amount lost, starting with the greatest.
This list includes both fraudulent and non-fraudulent losses, but excludes losses associated with Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, which is estimated in the $50 billion range, because Madoff did not lose the majority of this money in trading.
#Nominal amount lostUSD FX rate at time of lossUSD equivalent at time of lossUSD inflation to 20072007 USD Amount LostCountryCompanySource of LossYearPerson associated with incident
1USD 9 bn1USD 9 bn−7.0%USD 8.37 bnJPMorgan ChaseCredit Default Swaps2012
2USD 9 bn1USD 9 bn−3.7%USD 8.67 bnMorgan StanleyCredit Default Swaps2008
3USD 6.12 bn0.679USD 7.22 bn−3.7%USD 6.95 bnSociété GénéraleEuropean Index Futures2008
4USD 6.5 bn1USD 6.50 bn2.8%USD 6.69 bnAmaranth AdvisorsGas Futures2006
5USD 4.6 bn1USD 4.6 bn27.2%USD 5.85 bnLong Term Capital ManagementBond Arbitrage1998
6USD 4.1 bn1USD 4.1 bnN/AUSD 4.1 bnPershing SquareValeant Pharmaceuticals2015-2017
7JPY 285 bn108.78USD 2.62 bn32.1%USD 3.46 bnSumitomo CorporationCopper Futures1996
8BRL 4.62 bn1.833USD 2.52 bn−3.7%USD 2.43 bnAracruzFX Options2008, Rafael Sotero
9USD 1.7 bn1USD 1.7 bn39.9%USD 2.38 bnOrange CountyLeveraged bond investments1994
10DEM 2.63 bn1.655USD 1.59 bn43.5%USD 2.28 bnMetallgesellschaftOil Futures1993
11JPY 166 bn111.08USD 1.49 bn43.5%USD 2.14 bnShowa Shell SekiyuFX Forwards1993
12JPY 153.6 bn102.18USD 1.50 bn39.9%USD 2.09 bnKashima OilFX Forwards1994
13USD 2 bn1USD 2 bn−8.5%USD 1.83 bnUBSEquities ETF and Delta 12011
14HKD 14.7 bn7.786USD 1.89 bn−3.7%USD 1.82 bnCITIC PacificForeign Exchange Trading2008
15GBP 827 mn0.633USD 1.31 bn36.1%USD 1.78 bnBarings BankNikkei Futures1995
16RUB 78.5 bn38.98USD 2.01 bn−12.6%USD 1.76 bnTransneftDerivatives2014Maksim Grishanin, VP Finance
17USD 1.8 bn1USD 1.8 bn−3.7%USD 1.74 bnDeutsche BankDerivatives2008
18USD 1.75 bn0.923USD 1.29 bn20.4%USD 1.56 bnBAWAGForeign Exchange Trading2000, Helmut Elsner
19USD 1.1 bn1USD 1.10 bn36.1%USD 1.50 bnDaiwa BankBonds1995
20USD 0.80 bn1USD 0.80 bn82.5%USD 1.46 bnSoros FundSP 500 Futures1987
21USD 1 bn1USD 1 bn252.5%USD 2.52 bnHunt BrothersSilver1980
22USD 0.94 bn0.679USD 1.10 bn−3.7%USD 1.06 bnGroupe Caisse d'EpargneDerivatives2008
23BRL 2 bn1.833USD 1.09 bn−3.7%USD 1.05 bnSadiaFX and Credit Options2008, Álvaro Ballejo
24GBP 0.4 bn0.611USD 0.66 bn29.2%USD 0.85 bnMorgan GrenfellShares1997
25USD 0.6 bn1USD 0.60 bn39.9%USD 0.84 bnAskin Capital ManagementMortgage-Backed Securities1994
26USD 0.75 bn1.371USD 0.82 bn0.0USD 0.82 bnWestLBCommon and Preferred Shares2007
27USD 0.69 bn1USD 0.69 bn15.3%USD 0.80 bnAIB/AllfirstForeign Exchange Options2002
28S$1.13 bnUSD 0.80 bnHin Leong TradingOil2020-
29DEM 0.47 bn2.587USD 0.18 bn320.6%USD 0.76 bnHerstatt BankForeign Exchange Trading1974
30USD 0.68 bn0%USD 0.68 bnUnipecOil2018
31USD 0.65 bnQuantum FundJapanese Yen Shorting1994
32CAD 0.68 bn1.066USD 0.64 bn0%USD 0.64 bnBank of MontrealNatural gas derivatives2007David Lee, Kevin Cassidy
33USD 0.6 bnQuantum FundShort IT stocks during the internet bubble1999
34USD 0.55 bn1USD 0.55 bn9.8%USD 0.60 bnChina Aviation Oil Oil Futures and Options2004
35CHF 0.63 bn1.451USD 0.43 bn27.2%USD 0.55 bnUnion Bank of SwitzerlandEquity Derivatives1998
36USD 0.44 bn1USD 0.44 bn82.5%USD 0.44 bnKnight Capital GroupEquities2012
37USD 0.28 bn1USD 0.28 bn82.5%USD 0.51 bnMerrill LynchMortgages Trading1987
38USD 0.28 bn1USD 0.28 bn82.5%USD 0.51 bnState of West VirginiaFixed Income and Interest Rate Derivatives1987
39USD 0.35 bn1USD 0.35 bn39.9%USD 0.49 bnKidder PeabodyGovernment Bonds1994
40USD 0.4 bn1USD 0.40 bn20.4%USD 0.48 bnManhattan Investment FundShort IT stocks during the internet bubble2000Michael Berger
41USD 0.37 bn1.244USD 0.37 bn9.8%USD 0.41 bnHypo Alpe-Adria-Bank InternationalForeign Exchange Trading2004
42USD 0.35 bn1USD 0.35 bn0.0%USD 0.35 bnCalyonCredit Derivatives2007
43USD 0.36 bn1USD 0.36 bn0.0%USD 0.36 bnPetro-Diamond SingaporeOil derivatives2019Wang Xingchen, Jack
44AUD 0.36 bn1.171USD 0.31 bn9.8%USD 0.34 bnNational Australia BankForeign Exchange Trading2004, Gianni Gray, Vince Ficarra & David Bullen
45JPY 28.6 bnUSD 0.34 bnTateho Chemical IndustriesBond futures1987
46JPY 32 bnUSD 0.34 bnTokyo SecuritiesBond futures1994
47USD 0.078 bn1USD 0.078 bn320.4%USD 0.328 bnLloyds BankForeign Exchange Trading1974Marc Colombo
48USD 0.37 bn0.895USD 0.27 bn17.1%USD 0.31 bnDexia BankCorporate Bonds2001
49USD 0.296 bn bn1.11USD 0.296 bn-1%USD 0.296 bnNatixisEquities Derivatives2018
50USD 0.225 bn1USD 0.225 bn43.5%USD 0.30 bnFXCMForeign Exchange2015
51USD 0.207 bn1USD 0.207 bn43.5%USD 0.30 bnCodelcoCopper, silver, gold futures1993
52EUR 0.1601.1USD 0.176 bn0%USD 0.176bnBNP Paribas ArbitrageStructured Products2016Armin S.
53JPY 11.5 bnUSD 0.28 bn/Fuji Bank New York BranchForeign Exchange Trading1984
55JPY 9.7 bnUSD 0.24 bn/Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Singapore BranchForeign Exchange Trading1982Haruo Kanda
56JPY 22.9 bnUSD 0.23 bnNanzan GakuenEquity Derivatives2008
57USD 0.16 bn1USD 0.16 bn39.9%USD 0.22 bnProcter & GambleInterest Rate Derivatives1994
58USD 0.04 bn1USD 0.04 bn433.8%USD 0.214 bnUnited California Bank of BaselCocoa futures1970
59USD 0.2 bn1USD 0.20 bn6.2%USD 0.21 bnState Reserves Bureau Copper ScandalCopper Futures2005
60GBP 0.09 bn0.611USD 0.15 bn29.2%USD 0.19 bnNatWestInterest Rate Options1997
61USD 0.039 bn1USD 0.039 bn320.4%USD 0.164 bnFranklin National BankForeign Exchange Trading1974Peter Shaddick
62USD 0.11 bn1USD 0.11 bn39.9%USD 0.15 bnCuyahoga County, OhioLeveraged Fixed Income1994
63JPY 15.4 bnUSD 0.15 bnKomazawa GakuenCurrency Derivatives2008
64SEK 1.23 bn7.804USD 0.15 bn−4.8%USD 0.143 bnHQ BankEquity Derivatives2010, Mikael König, Patrik Enblad
65JPY 13.9 bnUSD 0.14 bnNippon Steel ChemicalBond futures1993
66USD 0.14 bn1USD 0.14 bn−3.7%USD 0.13 bnMF GlobalWheat Futures2008
67N/AUSD 0.13 bnself-portfolioBitcoin2017-2018
68USD 0.120 bn1USD 0.12 bn−3,7%USD 0.12 bnMorgan StanleyCredit-index options2008Matt Piper
69USD 0.12 bn1USD 0.12 bn−1%USD 0.12 bnEinar AasNordpool Power Derivatives2018Einar Aas
70JPY 11.9 bnUSD 0.12 bnNippon SansoInterest rate swap1995
71USD 0.1 bn1USD 0.10 bn15.3%USD 0.12 bnRiječka banka Foreign Exchange Trading2002