THE BARINGS DEBACLE : Trader Jailed; Singapore to Seek Extradition : Rich and Poor, From the Queen to Charities, Feeling the Bite

Dozens of charities, more than 40 pension funds and Queen Elizabeth II are among the victims of the Barings collapse who are tallying potential losses that, for some, could run into the millions of dollars.

The merchant bank’s plunge into the British equivalent of bankruptcy--thanks to a 28-year-old trader’s estimated $1 billion in losses--has left a trail of casualties, ranging from private companies such as Germany’s wealthy Deutsche Bank to organizations that help the homeless, poor youths and victims of the drug thalidomide.

All of the bank’s cash deposits have been frozen while court-appointed administrators and government investigators continue what could be a lengthy inquiry into the disaster.

There was some hope that the trader blamed for the collapse, Nicholas W. Leeson, might provide valuable information to investigators following his capture in Frankfurt early Thursday.

Meanwhile, depositors were losing interest payments and access to their funds. The estimated 3,000 depositors at Barings Bros., the company’s bank subsidiary, are protected to the extent that the British Deposit Protection Board guarantees that investors can receive up to 15,000 pounds, or 75% of their money up to 20,000 pounds. The payments would be made by member banks of the Bank of England.

One of the charities most affected is the bank’s own Barings Foundation--among Britain’s largest and most innovative--which stands to lose all but an estimated $3 million of its income, which was $21 million last year.

“That is enough to maintain existing promises, but in the long term (giving) will be reduced to the 1987 level,” said Nigel Siederer, director of the Assn. of Charitable Foundations. “It is a disaster for them.”

The Prince’s Trust, a fund set up by Prince Charles in the 1970s to help disadvantaged youths, the unemployed and the disabled, also faces losses of about $1.6 million at Barings.

Prince Charles has said he is “deeply distressed and shocked” by the catastrophe at the bank that has managed royal family money for much of this century. A spokesman for the trust said Thursday that the full extent of cutbacks in grants is uncertain.

“We’re like everyone else at the moment; we just don’t know,” he said.

But the ripple effect was already being felt by Britain’s charities. Losses to the Barings Foundation sent one of its largest grant recipients, the Housing Assn.’s Charitable Trust, scrambling for funds. The group received about $565,000 from the bank fund last year.

“Barings grants accounted for a quarter of our total income,” director Vivien Knibbs said. “This will have a really major impact on what we can do in 1996. Barings has been very imaginative and innovative in the projects it has looked to fund. They have encouraged new solutions to housing problems.”

The Thalidomide Trust Fund, which originally was feared to have lost $1.6 million in the debacle, announced that it has about $968,000 frozen in a Barings account, much of which will probably be recovered. But the fund will undoubtedly incur some losses along with the rest of Barings depositors.

The Guardian newspaper of London reported that thousands of ordinary investors with money in about 40 pension funds will be affected by the collapse, to the tune of at least $339 million.

Money invested by Barings Asset Management is protected, but the pension funds had an average of 5% of their holdings invested in cash for a total of $1.05 billion, a third of which has been wiped out, the paper said.

In all, Barings is said to have managed nearly $46 billion for pension funds, trusts, charities, county and district governments and private clients.

The number of British companies affected was unknown. Germany’s Deutsche Bank has filed suit, claiming it is owed $48 million because of a currency transaction.

The Guardian reported that Queen Elizabeth II faces personal losses of more than $800,000 and that funds might also be lost by the Duchy of Cornwall, which provides Prince Charles with his income.

But the bulk of the queen’s personal fortune of $80 million to $97 million is said to be protected in Barings’ asset management arm.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace refused to comment, saying it is “a private matter” involving “the queen’s private investments.”