Rogue Trader (1999)
This movie tells the story of Nick Leeson, a trader who single-handedly caused the insolvency of Barings Bank, the world’s second-oldest merchant bank. A rising star on the Singapore trading floor, Leeson blew up as quickly as he rose, hiding enormous losses from his superiors in carefully hidden accounts, eventually leading to the mother of all failed trades on a short straddle position on the Nikkei, which ends up experiencing a large sigma move.
While the movie itself is decently entertaining, Leeson’s story makes for a great lesson in risk management and financial oversight.