Best business reporting from abroad in newspapers or wire services
Award Year: 1995
Award Name: The Malcom Forbes Award 1995
Recipient: Lawrence Ingrassia, Sara Webb, Michael R. Sesit, Nicholas Bray, Robert Steiner, Jeremy Mark, Laura Jereski, Marcus Brauchli, Glenn Whitney
Affiliation: The Wall Street Journal
Honored Work: “The Fall of the House of Barings”
The collapse of the venerable British investment bank, Barings PLC, was one of last year’s most important financial events. The Journal’s coverage of Barings was timely, sophisticated, and insightful. The paper quickly pulled together a rich account and analysis of the collapse, precipitated by derivatives losses by Nick Leeson, a Singapore-based trader. Subsequent articles broke ground in exposing how lax controls, turf conflicts, and unwillingness to put curbs on Leeson, who was viewed as a big moneymaker, contributed to the debacle.
Citation for Excellence:
Mary Williams Walsh
Los Angeles Times
Reports from Germany