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
Livret A offered by La Banque Postale and the Groupe Caisse d'Épargne as of 2008. Since January 2009, it has been offered by all French banks. As of 2015, only one account may be held by an individual, with an amount from 10 Euros to 22,950 Euros. During the French presidential election, 2012, François Hollande, who was elected as the President of France, announced his intention to raise the individual amount to 30,600 Euros to build 150,000 new HLMs. In 2008, 46 million French citizens or residents owned a Livret A, for a total amount of 128,1 billion Euros in late 2007.