'Fat finger' Tokyo trader makes £381bn shares gaffe
Found on London Evening Standard on Friday, 03 October 2014
It is thought to be the most extreme example of a trader in financial markets inputting hopelessly wrong figures while working under intense pressure.
Gavin Parry, managing director at Hong Kong-based brokerage Parry International Trading, said: “It’s not rocket science that there was a fat finger here, but it reopens the questions about accountability.”
"You are about to trade 381 billions. Proceed? [y/n]". Seriously, how hard can it be to add a little popup box when amounts exceeding the normal values are entered? That's a really simple concept and makes you wonder how well designed the software is; after all, entire nations are depending on it.