2008 Société Générale trading loss 2008 Société Générale trading loss In January 2008, the bank Société Générale lost approximately €4.9 billion closing out positions over three days of trading beginning January 21, 2008, a period in which the market was experiencing a large drop in equity indices. The bank states these positions were fraudulent transactions created by Jérôme Kerviel, a trader with the company. The police stated they lacked evidence to charge him with fraud and charged him with breach of trust and illegally accessing computers. Kerviel states his actions were known to his superiors and that the losses were caused by panic selling by
Rogue Trader (book) Rogue Trader (book) Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World is a book by Nick Leeson, who served four years in prison for fraud after bankrupting the London-based Barings Bank in 1995 by hiding $1.4 billion in debt he accumulated as a derivatives trader in Singapore. The book was released on February 19, 1996 by Little, Brown & Company. The book was made into a 1999 feature film of the same name. Following an interview with Nick Leeson in prison, Sir David Frost realized the potential for a movie and optioned the rights to