ROGUES' GALLERY

Six traders who bet big and lost

2006

BRIAN HUNTER -$7.3 billion

The 32-year-old, Calgary-based energy trader, who earned about $100 million in 2005, brought down $9-billion (U.S.) hedge fund Amaranth Advisors by trading in natural gas futures. He's now an adviser with Boston-based money manager Peak Ridge Capital Group.

2008

JÉRÔME KERVIEL -$7.2 billion

Kerviel staked $80 billion--more than Société Générale's entire market cap--on European futures markets and forged documents to cover up his activity. He claims the bank was complicit in his actions, and he is being hailed as a hero in France.

1996

YASUO HAMANAKA -$3.5 billionThe Japanese copper trader at 300-year-old Sumitomo Corp. forged documents to cover up his losses in illicit trades that rocked world metal markets. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

1995

NICK LEESON -$2 billionThe Singapore-based trader wiped out the entire cash reserve of Barings Bank while trying to cover bad bets on the Japanese stock exchange. He served three years for fraud and forgery. His book, Rogue Trader, was turned into a film starring Ewan McGregor.

1995

TOSHIHIDE IGUCHI -$1.5 billion

An executive at Japanese bank Daiwa's New York office, he falsified records for 11 years to cover his losses and claimed his managers lied to the Fed to cover his tracks. Iguchi got four years in jail; Daiwa paid a $340-million (U.S.) fine and was expelled from the U.S.

1996

PETER YOUNG -$855 millionYoung, a mathematician and fund manager at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in London, set up holding companies to purchase oversized stakes in speculative stocks. He showed up for sentencing in a skirt and makeup, and was declared unfit to stand trial.