Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who sank Britain's oldest bank, is considering a return to the markets to make a living - although this time he says that he will only invest his own cash.

"You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me to manage their money,'' Mr Leeson, who ran up losses of £1.4 billion at Barings Bank in 1995, told Bloomberg.

"If I make a decision and lose money, fair enough. If I make a decision for somebody else, then I would feel obligated to make it up to them."

Mr Leeson, who currently works as commercial director of Galway United, the Irish football team, brought down Barings through a series of disastrous bets on the Japanese markets when he was the firm's head trader in Singapore.

Barings, an institution that financed Britain's war against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, was later sold to ING for £1.

After a brief spell on the run, Mr Leeson gave himself up in Germany and was returned to Singapore where he served three-and-half years for fraud.

"I was extremely ill-disciplined,'' Mr Leeson said.

He added that he now never risks more than he can afford to lose, and closes out his position every day.

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