Société Générale was at the centre of a financial scandal in 2009. The bank denied those accusations. January 2008: Trading loss incident (Kerviel Fraud) On January 24, 2008, the bank announced that a single futures trader at the bank had fraudulently lost the bank €4.9 billion (an equivalent of US$7.2 billion), the largest such loss in history. The company did not name the trader, but other sources identified him as Jérôme Kerviel, a relatively junior futures trader who allegedly orchestrated a series of bogus transactions that spiraled out of control amid turbulent markets in 2007 and early 2008. Partly due to the
Pattern day trader For example, a trader may use 3 day trades, and then enter a fourth position to hold overnight. If unexpected news causes the security to rapidly decrease in price, the trader is presented with two choices. One choice would be to continue to hold the stock overnight, and risk a large loss of capital. The other choice would be to close the position, protecting his capital, and (perhaps inappropriately) fall under the day-trading rule, as this would now be a 4th day trade within the period. Of course, if the trader is aware of this well-known rule, he should not