2008 Société Générale trading loss positions built up by Kerviel. This has led to speculation that stock market turbulence caused the Federal Reserve Board to cut the rate. A Federal Reserve spokesperson denied the central bank knew of Société Générale's situation when it made its decision. It is estimated that over the period the total trading in futures and the cash market for the Euro Stoxx 50 was €544 billion. This would make the unwinding of Kerviel’s position account for five per cent or less of overall activity. Société Générale's investment banking chief, Jean Pierre Mustier, acknowledged that the three days of forced selling played
Commodity Futures Trading Commission unlimited positions. These exemptions came to light only after the 2008 financial crisis had unfolded and Congress requested information on market participants. A trader or bank granted an exemption as a bona-fide hedger can affect the price of a commodity without being either its producer or consumer. In December 2007 during the subprime mortgage crisis, the CFTC began investigating transportation, storage and trading of U.S. crude oil for price manipulation, which included a probe of U.S. crude oil futures. By May 2008, when the price of crude oil futures showed a meteoric rise of 40% to a record $US 135