SocGen trader loses €4.9bn.


As if the massive write-downs that Financial institutions had to suffer wasn't enough, Societe Generale took another hit: one of its traders made them loose €4.9bn in Equity Derivatives.

Apparently, this trader had accumulated a longue position in equity derivatives in the UK, Germany and the Eurostoxx 50 worth an estimated €50bn, more than SocGen’s market value.
“Every two or three days, he was changing his position. He would input a transaction that would trigger a control in three days and before that happened he would replace it with a different one,” said Mr Mustier.
He said the rogue trader was managing hundreds of thousands of concealed trades and an equal number of falsified hedges to give the appearance that any loss was offset. It is interested to note that half the losses occured after the management was made aware of the position and decided to sell it.

Financials are definitely a sell.

The story on the FT
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3ac68dd2-cb7c-11dc-97ff-000077b07658.html
And on Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a8GBEB7UuuXc&

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