OK, sorry about that. Herebelowwhat I found on BBG. But I think the good question would be "How are Chinese authorities going to handle the position..." Chinese authorities have rejected reports of any link to a trader who was said to have worked for Beijing but vanished after making wrong bets on copper futures contracts that could potentially cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Liu Qibing, who was said to be executing trades on behalf of China's State Reserve Bureau (SBR), went missing recently after he built up massive short positions that traders claimed ranged anywhere between 100,000 and 600,000 tons. Copper prices have soared this year, rising more than 30 pct, and yesterday they hit a record high of 4,132 usd per ton. China, a huge consumer of copper, has in recent weeks tried to cool the price by drawing down some of its stocks. In theory this should have made the price fall and Liu was apparently banking on this happening by taking out what are known as short positions -- selling copper he did not have in the hope of buying back his underlying commitments more cheaply in the future. Officials with the general office of the SBR, which is in charge of the country's metals reserves, repeatedly denied that Liu worked for them. 'We do not have such a person working for us,' one official told Agence France-Presse by telephone. Another official said he was 'not clear' whether such a person existed. China Futures Association chairman Chang Qing, who is also chairman of the of Jinpeng International Futures, told Agence France-Presse that the man at the centre of the potential scandal remained a mystery. 'I've asked the State Reserve Bureau on the issue and they told me that they don't have any official with the name of Liu Qibing. The man in the center of the market rumor is not with the State Reserve Bureau,' Chang said. 'They (State Reserve Bureau) have never heard of this person and I've never heard of this person.' However, traders in China said that Liu did indeed exist and had headed the China Reserve Bureau's operation in London. 'He is a trader and definitely an official of the bureau,' said a trader surnamed Zhou from Zhejiang NanHua Futures. Zhou said that about four weeks ago stories had begun to surface that Liu had come under investigation by Chinese officials as his losses mounted. To cool speculative pressure, China, the world's largest consumer of copper, last week said that it would sell 20,000 tons of copper, while saying it had 1.3 mln tons of copper stockpiled. The announcement however only sparked speculation that China lacked the reserves necessary to honor the contracts falling due on Dec 21 and was attempting to minimise its trading losses, which could run into hundreds of millions of dollars. 'It is doubtful whether the Reserve is able to deliver on those huge spot contracts,' said Zhou. In late 2004, the mainland's Singapore-listed China Aviation Oil went under when it was forced to seek court protection from creditors after revealing it had lost 550 mln usd through derivatives trades that turned sour.
why did the chinese let him build such a large position. And when he was losing in the millions why didnt they just cover.
Funny thing is that baring rouge trader is now a professional poker player. And like in his old job isnt using his own money to play. Im surprise those british guys didnt try to stomp him out.