Extraordinary items - Baring necessities

Nick Leeson could have won back the fortune he lost by going bullish on the number of court cases that would arise out of the Barings collapse. The latest High Court tussle saw former director Peter Norris seek an exemption from the DTI's decision to disqualify him from being a company director for four years. The court tried to find a balance between the "need" to protect the public, his "need" to be a director, and the "need" of the companies connected with Viz comic group John Brown Publishing to engage him as a director.

Well, since fraud and dishonesty didn't feature in his disqualification, the judge ruled that Mr Norris could be a director of those companies, provided he was only a non-executive director, he had no employment contract and his directorships were unpaid.

But that's not too onerous: Mr Norris is still allowed to be paid as a consultant to those companies.