France’s Rogue Trader
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008by Ryan Wentling
Award Nominee
Jerome Kerviel was a junior trader at Societe Generale, France’s second largest bank. This quiet man bet $74 billion on European stock market indexes, which was 50% more than the company was worth. In the midst of a market plunge, Societe Generale sold the shares at a loss of $7.2 billion. Kerviel, for the time being, will be known as the architect of the largest trading scandal ever. I will discuss this scandal’s relation to accounting, including tax, auditing, and financial reporting.