Word: soci
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Three days was all it took in 1995, after the bank-busting deals of rogue trader Nick Leeson had come to light, for the venerable Barings Bank to file for bankruptcy and forever vanish. Managers at France's Société Générale may well be wondering why their agony endures, a week and counting after a far bigger scandal that cost it $7.13 billion to unwind - and that subjected its risk control procedures to public mockery. Yet the end is still not in sight. The SocGen's board of directors, meeting in emergency session, left...
...Société Générale is in crisis," added Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on the eve of the bank's board meeting. "The board members are there to decide whether or not the person in charge is the best one to steer the ship or if a change of captain is needed...
...however, the board agreed with the large group of Société Générale employees assembled in support of Bouton outside the bank's headquarters. They stressed the short-sightedness of vengefully sacking an otherwise proven manager just when the shattered bank most needs him. "You don't throw the captain overboard when the ship is sinking," said board member Philippe Pruvost, who represents employees...
...Collective survival instinct, for one. With investigations underway by the Paris stock market regulators and shareholder lawsuits proliferating, Société Générale is now considered a fat and defenseless takeover target. The likely prospect that its post-merger work force would be slashed is a chilling one in a France groggy with nearly 8% unemployment. During trading Tuesday, SocGen's stock price jumped nearly 11% amid heavy trading on rumors rival BNP is planning a hostile bid on the bank. That prospect appeared even more feasible on Wednesday, as BNP announced 2007 profits...
...impossible to generate such big profits with small positions," Le Monde cites Kerviel telling investigators. "That led me to believe that as long as I was in the black, my superiors closed their eyes to the methods and volumes involved."That suggests that even more destabilizing revelations for Société Générale may be in the offing. And that could unlock the lips of shareholders who have filed suit against the bank, but have thus far shied away from calling for Bouton's ouster until the crisis is over. Indeed, it is, perhaps perversely...