Bruno Iksil

"The French trader, who appears to have led these investments from a little-known corner of JP Morgan’s operations in London, recently boasted that he could walk on water -- suggesting that his ego is as outsized as the nemesis in Moby Dick from which his favored nickname "the White Whale" originates. Whether or not Iksil's reputation will go from fearsome sea animal to Jonah after he's blamed for the storm and tossed overboard is not yet known."

"The loss came in a portfolio of the complex financial instruments known as derivatives, and in a division of JPMorgan designed to help control its exposure to risk in the financial markets and invest excess money in its corporate treasury.  It was reported back in April that a trader named Bruno Iksil had built up a large long position in a derivative known as CDX.IG.NA, selling protection on a basket of investment grade (that’s the IG part) companies in North America (that’s the NA part). On their own, these trades would indicate a bet that they would strengthen and the price of protecting against defaults would fall.  Hedge fund traders reportedly started calling Iskil the “London Whale” and began placing a variety of bets against his positions. Many believed that his position was so large that he would have to lose money once the index and underlying credits reverted to a more normal relationship."