French Trader Who Lost $7 Billion Talks to Police

(ABCNEWS)

It's Happened Before

Nick Leeson lost $1.4 billion for the British bank Barings in 1995. Like Kerviel, Leeson's losses spiralled as he tried to turn bad bets into good ones.

"Probably his biggest fear is the fear of failure, as it was mine, as it is today. I don't think that people that are working in that fast paced environment that is so bred or so built around winning and making money, the fear of failure that is there is the thing that they just can't confront," Lesson said, commenting on Kerviel's case.

Leeson's case sparked calls for reform and even inspired a film, "Rogue Trader" starring Ewan McGregor.

In 1996, it happened again, when a copper trader in Japan lost $2.5 billion.