Trader at major Japanese bank mistakenly costs firm $224 million

How do you say "D'oh!" in Japanese?

"The trader at Mizuho Securities, who has not been named, fell foul of what is known in financial circles as “fat finger syndrome” where a dealer types incorrect details into his computer. He wanted to sell one share in a new telecoms company called J Com, for 600,000 yen (about £3,000).

Unfortunately, the order went through as a sale of 600,000 shares at 1 yen each."

There's more ...

"The slip caused immediate shockwaves in the Tokyo market as traders tried to guess which firm had made the mistake. Fearing the impact, traders sold shares in all Japanese broking houses and the sell-off led to the value of the Nikkei 225 falling 2 per cent. It was only later that Mizuho admitted that one of its traders had made the error."

But it doesn't end there ....

"If Mizuho has to accept the loss, it may have to sell many of its stockholdings to raise the money, creating further pressure on Japanese stocks."

And to add insult to injury ...

"As if the hapless trader was not unpopular enough, the firm also cancelled its end-of-year party, scheduled for last night."

The entire article is here. Enjoy.