January 24, 2008

Bad auditors, no oversight by government, poor management will net you this!!

FYI - Bank Paribas is Carlyle Group .. and they are the ones printing all that lovely money and making sure it gets distributed. All, Hail Hank, all Hail Dick Cheney! All Hail, George Bush and dad!

Tell me does it seem strange to you that this fraud could be THIS big, or is it just me?? 7 Billion buck$, that's an awfully large amount of smackeroos!!

10.30am GMT update

Société Générale uncovers £3.7bn fraud by rogue trader


French banking group Societe Generale CEO Daniel Bouton during a shareholders general meeting in Paris

The board turned down an offer by chairman and chief exec Daniel Bouton to resign

A rogue trader has cost French bank Société Générale €4.9bn (£3.7bn) in the biggest fraud in financial history.

News of the fraud, which will virtually wipe out 2007 profits at France's second-largest bank, sent shockwaves through European markets, already battered by the escalating credit crisis.

SocGen also revealed this morning that it is being forced to make further write-downs of €2bn relating to the credit crisis and said it would be forced to raise €5.5bn in fresh capital to strengthen its balance-sheet.

The bank gave few details about the unnamed trader, who has already been dubbed "the French Nick Leeson".

Leeson was the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank in 1995, with losses of £800m. But the SocGen fraud is more than four times that figure.

SocGen, founded in 1864 and one of France's most prestigious companies, said the Paris-based trader had confessed to his actions, which involved "massive" fraudulent positions in 2007 and 2008, beyond his "limited authority". The trader has been responsible for "plain vanilla futures hedging on European equity market indices," the bank said.

It discovered the fraud last weekend and decided to close the positions as soon as possible. Their size, and the very unfavourable market conditions, led to the €4.9bn hit.

"Aided by his in-depth knowledge of the control procedures resulting from his former employment in the middle-office, he managed to conceal these positions through a scheme of elaborate fictitious transactions," the bank said.

A "thorough analysis" of all positions in his department has been undertaken, which has confirmed the "isolated and exceptional nature of this fraud".

The trader has confessed to the fraud and is in the process of being dismissed, as are his managers.

SocGen said chairman and chief executive Daniel Bouton had offered his resignation but this was rejected. The board reaffirmed its confidence in him and in the top management. The board has asked Bouton to "lead the group back on track for profitable growth".

The bank is due to give more details of the fraud and write-downs later this morning at a press conference in Paris scheduled for 10am GMT. French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde is also due to make a statement later today.

Trading in the bank's shares was suspended this morning. They fell more than 4% yesterday, taking their loss since the start of the year to 20%.

News of the fraud and credit crunch write-downs sent shockwaves through the banking sector this morning. Rival French bank BNP Paribas rushed to reassure the market, saying it does not expect any exceptional losses in its 2007 accounts that would justify a profit warning.

"The process of closing the 2007 accounts of BNP Paribas is continuing in a satisfactory manner," it said in a statement.

"It has not revealed any loss of item that would justify any particular warning to the market."

In an effort to allay fears over its figures, the bank said it would publish its preliminary results for 2007 next week.

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