2008 Société Générale trading loss the bank's total market capitalization. Bank officials claim that Kerviel tried to conceal the activity by creating losing trades intentionally so as to offset his early gains. According to the BBC, Kerviel generated €1.4 billion in hidden profits by the end of 2007. His employers say they uncovered unauthorized trading traced to Kerviel on January 19, 2008. The bank then closed out these positions over three days of trading beginning January 21, 2008, a period in which the market was experiencing a large drop in equity indices, and losses attributed are estimated at €4.9 billion. The bank claimed Kerviel "had
Alleged Libyan financing in the 2007 French presidential election election campaign. In March 2018, Sarkozy-era interior minister Brice Hortefeux voluntarily appeared before French police for questioning. Several arrests have been made in relation to the inquiry. Sarkozy's political party, The Republicans, issued a statement following his arrest in which it said the former president had the party's full support. Spokesman Christian Jacob later suggested that the accusations against Sarkozy were politically motivated. Following Sarkozy's arrest, Eric Ciotti expressed confidence the former president would be exonerated. Alleged Libyan financing in the 2007 French presidential election Alleged Libyan financing in the 2007 French presidential election purportedly took the form of Libya's