Bank Leu

Despite having many distinguished customers over the years (at one point, it was Maria Theresa's banker), two major scandals in the 1980s eventually cost the bank its independence.

From 1981 to 1986, Levine built up his account to over $10 million USD, trading on information he acquired based on his work as an investment banker.

Bank Leu itself had a long tradition of secrecy, and its Bahamian branch had a reputation for accepting deposits from anyone, no questions asked.

However, Bank Leu officials knew soon after Levine opened his account that he was trading almost entirely on inside information.

As a result of their piggybacking, Bank Leu employees made a tidy profit of their own off Levine's trades.

More seriously, Bank Leu steered a large number of trades through a broker at Merrill Lynch's office in Caracas.

The colleague wrote a letter to Merrill Lynch's compliance unit, whose internal investigation led to Bank Leu.

Bank Leu's involvement in two major financial scandals seriously hurt its reputation, and in September 1990, it agreed to merge with Credit Suisse.