Mums Finance

Relatively easy…if you consider the problems being experienced currently by the large French bank Societe Generale!

Jerome Kerviel, the latest Rogue Trader after Nick Leeson set the stage in 1995, has generated losses for the French bank that make Nick Leeson’s losses for Barings look like pocket money. We are not talking in millions here, but billions.  Bank officials confirmed that the size of the trader’s positions had reached “several tens of billions of euros,” a staggering sum for a bank whose market capitalization is 35.9 billion Euro (£26.57 billion). Some reports have estimated Kerviel’s bets amounted to as high as £60billion.

There is no talk of errors of judgement here, this guy knew what he was doing and had been fraudulently trading with the bank’s money for over twelve months, you have to ask the question: How did he manage to get away with this for so long?

Of course you have to remember that these traders work with currencies everyday dealing into the millions and billions; it must provide a huge adrenalin kick when the stakes are running high; just look at how crazy the markets have been in the past week or so. There must also be the over-confidence and the urge to push just that bit too far and take far too many risks.

I have to admit, while I feel for those people who may have lost a fortune due to this guy, there are times when I am glad I’m not millionaire!

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