$7 billion rogue trader turns himself in

The $7 billion rogue trader has turned himself in to French authorities.

Nicola Clark of the NY Times just reported:

Jérôme Kerviel, a former trader at Société Générale, surrendered to the police on Saturday as investigators looked into what had caused the bank, one of Europe’s largest, to lose more than $7 billion.

When the story hit the wires, Kerviel's attorney stated that he would be available to speak with judicial authorities.

The $7 billion question for the authorities and the rest of us us:

The bank’s management has come under increasing pressure from French officials to provide a more detailed accounting of how Mr. Kerviel could have racked up such enormous losses by himself, over a year, without raising any red flags among either his supervisors or the bank’s internal auditors.

Many familiar with the situation are speculating that the recent problems with the stock market caused the losses to unexpectedly grow, which led to them becoming transparent.

NY Times story, here.

My original post on this (probably historical case), here.