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Article: After JK; Societe Generale.(The fallout from the Kerviel affair could have been worse)(Jerome Kerviel)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 31, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Kerviel trading scandal was bad. It could have been worse
SOCIETE GENERALE has been the object of much scrutiny and some mockery since news broke in January that Jerome Kerviel, a lowly trader in an unexciting market, had lost his employer euro4.9 billion ($7.2 billion). The French bank has taken its lumps since then--its shares are down by 28% since the start of the year and shareholders gave executives a rough ride at the annual general meeting on May 27th--but it could have been worse. In many ways SocGen has been lucky.
To be fair, the bank has earned some of that good fortune. It was quick to raise new capital, asking shareholders for euro5.5 ...