Société Générale

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OPEC Cuts Oil Production
 OPEC Cuts Oil Production
Sep 10, 2008 2:23 AM CDT

OPEC Cuts Oil Production

Bid to halt price slide after summer high

(Newser) - The international oil cartel OPEC announced today it's reducing production by more than half a million barrels a day, the Financial Times reports. The decision by the cartel, which controls 40% of world oil production, stunned most analysts. The move comes as oil prices, after spiking to an all-time high...

SocGen CEO Resigns Over Rogue Trader

Bouton steps down at last; future remains grim for French bank

(Newser) - The CEO of Société Générale will step down, at last bowing to pressure in the wake of the $7.8 billion rogue trading scandal. Although investors and politicians—including French President Nicolas Sarkozy—had demanded Daniel Bouton's resignation immediately after the revelation of Jérôme Kerviel's...

SocGen Posts Record $4.9B Q4 Loss
SocGen Posts Record $4.9B Q4 Loss
Feb 21, 2008 9:54 AM CST

SocGen Posts Record $4.9B Q4 Loss

Subprime writedowns and fraud drop bank's annual profit 82%

(Newser) - Societe Generale's annual profits plummeted a whopping 82% after a record $4.9 billion fourth quarter loss fueled by subprime woes and the actions of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, reports Bloomberg. France’s second-largest bank today said net income was 947 million euros, compared to 5.22 billion euros in...

SocGen: Lax Controls Led to $7.2B Fraud

French bank says 24 internal alarms were ignored over 14 months

(Newser) - Rogue SocGen trader Jerome Kerviel, whose unauthorized deals led to a $7.2 billion loss for the French bank, continued his trading for more than a year after the first warning flag was raised in the department that was supposed to detect risky trading, reports the Wall Street Journal. Kerviel...

Credit Suisse Cuts Profits $1B on Trader Errors

Trader 'error' prompts bank to take $2.85B writedown; shares plummet

(Newser) - Credit Suisse share prices plummeted 10% today after the bank announced that some traders had overvalued asset-backed securities, prompting the bank to take a $2.85 billion writedown and drop first-quarter profit projections by $1 billion, Bloomberg reports. Switzerland’s second-largest bank suspended the traders and said it would review...

Lawyer: SocGen 'Condoned' Trader's Deals

Bank couldn't have missed billions in moves: Kerviel's rep

(Newser) - The French trader who lost Société Générale $7.2 billion acted with the tacit support of the banking giant's management, which "condoned" his trades, Jérôme Kerviel's lawyer says. The assertion contradicts executives' claims that Kerviel acted alone. "Jérôme is a smart...

SocGen to Raise $8B With Discount Shares

Replenishing capital could help struggling French bank avoid takeover

(Newser) - Societe Generale, the French bank hit with a $7 billion loss in a massive trading fraud, will replenish its cash reserves through an $8 billion stock offering at a heavily discounted rate, the company said today. Shares will be priced at €45.50, or 39% off the Feb. 8...

Trader's Alleged Accomplice Released

Second SocGen worker not charged as bank struggles to stay alive

(Newser) - Authorities today released a second suspect in the bank fraud case that cost Société Générale a dizzying $7.09 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. But the suspect’s ex-colleague, Jerome Kerviel, remains jailed, as the bank and French officials insist he acted alone. Still, prosecutors labeled...

SocGen Trader Headed for Jail
SocGen Trader Headed for Jail
Feb 8, 2008 7:05 PM CST

SocGen Trader Headed for Jail

Paris court rules Kerviel must spend investigation behind bars

(Newser) - A Paris court ruled today that rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel should be behind bars during the remainder of the investigation into his case, the New York Times reports. Kerviel is suspected of fake trading that cost French bank Société Générale $7 billion. When he heard...

Cops Hold 2nd Trader in Probe
Cops Hold 2nd Trader in Probe
Feb 8, 2008 8:49 AM CST

Cops Hold 2nd Trader in Probe

French police are questioning a person working at a SocGen brokerage

(Newser) - A broker who works for a Societe Generale subsidiary is being questioned by French authorities in connection with the $7 billion loss the bank suffered at the hands of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, the Wall Street Journal reports. Prosecutors and bank officials previously said they believed Kerviel acted alone, but...

For Reeling SocGen, the Taxman Cometh

Rogue trader won big in '07, and the bank could owe a bundle

(Newser) - As if the $7.17 billion Societe Generale lost at the hands of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel wasn’t enough pain for the French banking giant, it’s now looking at losing another chunk of change—this time to the taxman, reports the Wall Street Journal. Investigators say Kerviel earned...

Trader Won't Be SocGen's 'Scapegoat'

Kerviel breaks silence, says bank turned a blind eye to scheme

(Newser) - Jerome Kerviel will not “be made a scapegoat” for the huge losses at Société Générale, he told AFP today in his first public comments since his trading scheme was discovered. Kerviel said he had been “designated” as the sole wrongdoer by the French bank, which...

SocGen Trader Was No Super Hacker
SocGen Trader Was No Super Hacker
Feb 4, 2008 3:56 PM CST

SocGen Trader Was No Super Hacker

Kerviel gained passwords through careless IT security

(Newser) - While he’s been called a computer genius, the access Jerome Kerviel obtained to the Société Générale’s systems was probably the result of terrible IT security, writes PC World, not a successful hack of the French bank’s computers. Managing a bank’s passwords is a...

What Does This Man Have to Do to Get Fired?

Kerviel cost SocGen $7.2B, but law says he can't be sacked—yet

(Newser) - Make no mistake, Société Générale would like to fire Jérôme Kerviel, the rogue trader who cost the bank $7.2 billion. But under French labor laws, he can’t be dismissed without a formal sit-down to discuss his employer's problems with his performance. That will...

Rogue Trader Says SocGen Looked the Other Way

Kerviel says he was up $2B at the end of 2007

(Newser) - Jérôme Kerviel, the trader at the root of the $7.1 billion scandal roiling French banking giant Société Générale, says his bosses knew what he was up to, and they didn't stop him as long as he was generating huge profits—$2 billion by the...

System Vulnerable to 'Genius' Rogue Traders

Criminal financial wizards can run amok, experts warn

(Newser) - Banks hoping to weed out potential rogue traders need to realize that they can strike anywhere, any time—and that their best traders could be the likeliest suspects, Reuters warns. "All of the things that make a great trader make a great fraudster, too," noted a consultant. Experts...

SocGen Board Stands By Its Execs
SocGen Board Stands By
Its Execs
Jan 30, 2008 10:52 AM CST

SocGen Board Stands By Its Execs

Bank gives vote of confidence despite $7.2B losses in fraud

(Newser) - Defying pressure from the French government, Société Générale's board of directors today unanimously voted to keep co-chief executives Daniel Bouton and Philippe Citerne in their jobs. About 100 employees endorsed the sentiment by leaving the embattled bank's headquarters and standing on the sidewalk in a show of...

Pressure on for SocGen Heads to Roll

Bank finally calls in auditors to probe $7B scandal

(Newser) - Independent auditors have been called in to examine events leading up to Société Générale's $7 billion trading scandal—and the jobs of some top executives are on the line, reports the Financial Times. The bank's head of corporate and investment banking will have to answer tough questions...

Breakup Rumors Swirl Around SocGen
Breakup Rumors Swirl Around SocGen
Jan 29, 2008 12:11 PM CST

Breakup Rumors Swirl Around SocGen

Fraud-plagued French bank may be too big for single bidder

(Newser) - Wounded Société Générale is looking more and more like a takeover target, prompting France's prime minister to jump into the fray today and say the government would defend the country's second-largest bank against hostile raids, the Wall Street Journal reports. With a $7.1 billion loss from...

Bank Was Warned About Rogue Trader
Bank Was Warned About Rogue Trader
Jan 29, 2008 3:19 AM CST

Bank Was Warned About Rogue Trader

Prosecutor says Kerviel was after a big bonus with mammoth trades

(Newser) - The Eurex stock exchange alerted Société Générale to positions held by Jérôme Kerviel months before the bank discovered his staggering $7 billion fraud, the Independent reports. Kerviel produced fake documents to justify his actions to the bank and was motivated by a drive to impress...

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