The article is right that there are no silver bullets. The problem with derivatives is that there are down side risks that are hard to estimate. So you don't have a way to determine your exact exposure. A mark to market will let you know your current value of the investment but it doesn't tell you how much you can lose on your derivative investment, only what you would have made/lost if you had sold your investment at the time you did the mark to market.

The interesting thing is that the "rogue" traders are making uncontrolled trades in derivatives. That is, trading in derivatives are supposed to be a hedge against an underlying trade/investment and there should be oversight by upper management/senior traders.

While this isn't directly an IT issue, the technology does exist to help catch exposure...

If he had made 700m how would he have got it past the compliance team? Until the banks punish the winners as well as losers when reckless gambles (beyond the normal reckless gambles they they are authorised to carry out!) are made then the bankers will always try their luck. In the end, its not their money is it.

I say tax all bank bonuses at 99% and let them fucking suffer.

Realtime monitoring will not help here. The banks have created and cherished the trader that lives fast, takes risks and dies by driving a LOTUS into a wall at the age of 27. This type of personality will always try to circumvent any controls internal or external. Some will always succeed.

The underlying reason for this is the relentless drive for short term profits in the market. So the only way to avoid this in the future is to emphasise long term investment and hire people capable of doing it. However, in order for this to happen the whole market structure has to change and that is not happening anytime soon.