France’s Rogue Trader
by 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.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
3.5 Stars:
Ryan did a good job explaining the recent Societe General scandal, however, he could’ve been a bit more dramatic with his presentation of this shocking episode. Also the pictures corresponded well with the information, but it would’ve been nice to have a few more graphics. His delivery was excellent and I had no problems understanding everything he said. I especially liked his assessment of the accounting implications and how companies need to manage risk better. Exciting topic, wasn’t as dazzled as I’d like to have been, however, all in all a solid podcast.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
4 out 4 Stars
I really enjoyed viewing Ryan’s podcast. He did a good job discussing and identifying the issues behind the Societe General scandal. This is obviously a fairly complex topic for non-finance majors, and Ryan explained it very well. I enjoyed his humorous pictures and I felt he did a good job speaking and delivering the podcast. I had read about this topic when it had occurred months ago, but it was interesting and fun to see the information presented in a different way.