Whiz-kid trader Nick Leeson jailed
1995 - Former whiz-kid trader Nick Leeson, whose disastrous derivatives dealings brought down Barings bank under debts of some $1.4 billion (Dh5.14 billion), was sentenced by a Singapore court to six-and-a-half years in prison. Judge Kicnara Magnus said the 28-year-old Briton had used his position of trust to trade dishonestly and had “spun a web of deceit”. Leeson pleaded guilty to the two charges after prosecutors said they would not proceed with nine other fraud and forgery counts which could have added a further six years to his sentence. Leeson admitted the other nine charges and the court took them into consideration when sentencing him. “These are very serious offences,” Magnus said. He sentenced Leeson to six months for deceiving Barings auditors.
December 2
1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself emperor of France in Paris.
1815 - Britain signs peace treaty with Nepal.
1816 - The first savings bank in the US, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opens for business.
1852 - Second French Empire is proclaimed with Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor Napoleon III.
1854 - Austria concludes alliance with Britain and France.
1950 - United Nations agrees to hand over Eritrea to Ethiopia.
1961 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist who will lead Cuba to Communism.
1969 - The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut as 191 people fly from Seattle to New York City.
1971 - Britain terminates all treaties with Trucial States in the Gulf, leading to the UAE’s formation.
1988 - Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation.
1989 - Viswanath Pratap Singh is sworn in as Indian Prime Minister.
1990 - Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins a landslide victory in the first pan-German elections since 1932.
1994 - Ferry carrying more than 600 people sinks in Manila Bay, Philippines.
2001 - Enron, the largest energy-trading company in the United States, files for bankruptcy protection.
2007 - A record breaking UAE flag, measuring 50,000 square feet, is displayed in Abu Dhabi.
2008 - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s party is found guilty of electoral fraud and dissolved.
2010 - Qatar wins bid to host Fifa World Cup 2022.
2012 - The seventh highest flagpole is inaugurated in Sharjah, opposite Al Jazeera park.
