A Norwegian bank loses around 80 million euros due to a decimal error. However, the mistake was only noticed months later because the data did not match. The “culprit” will not be punished, as the bank stated.
Errors happen to everyone, but it is especially frustrating when a small, unintentional mistake leads to significant damage in the millions. This recently happened to a Norwegian bank. An employee made a typo, which resulted in a substantial financial loss.
Wrong date causes chaos and millions in losses
What kind of error was this? Certain data and figures were entered into a huge Excel spreadsheet at the bank. And this is where the error occurred: According to the responsible parties, who chose to remain anonymous, the problem arose when the wrong date was entered. Our French colleagues from Jeuxvideo.com report this.
Instead of November 1st, the employee entered December 1st. What seems like a tiny error led to such a mess that it ultimately caused a loss of 900 million Norwegian kroner, which is approximately 80 million euros.
When was the error discovered? The error was only discovered by the bank after several months. The figures for the year-end did not match, and although the problem was quickly recognized and resolved, the damage had already been done.
Bank punishes no one, wants to learn from the mistake
What happens next? The bank itself stated that it does not want to punish the employee and explained that such a mistake could happen to anyone who conducts “complex operations.” The bank also emphasized that it can learn from this mistake to prevent such losses from occurring again. In an email from the bank’s CEO to employees, it states:
These things just happen! We are conducting a complex operation, and what surprises me the most is that, historically, we have had very few or no such incidents. They are both super professional and an important contribution to success.
Don’t let this ruin your weekend.
(via jeuxvideo.com)
However, there are also employees who want to profit when mistakes happen: An employee of a company regularly caused the company’s system to crash to make money. However, when he went on vacation, it was discovered that he was behind the problems:
