Some years ago, the treasury team at a multi-billion-dollar tech company mangled a hedge of its yen exposure – selling and buying the wrong sides of the currency pair, and effectively doubling down on the existing position. It was a $100 million notional trade. 

“Fortunately, it went in the company’s favour, but if it had gone the other way, you can imagine more than a few people would have lost their jobs,” says a machine-learning expert working in currency risk management. 

Today, this is a