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
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