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Sam RoSeptember 9, 2014 "Black swans" characterize unforeseen and unlikely events that have the potential to rock the economy and financial markets. While the sharp slowdown in Europe has dominated the economic headlines lately, SocGen believes that we should be most worried about China. "The most significant downside risks to the global economy in this short-term setting aside geopolitical risks remains a hard landing of the Chinese economy," the analysts' said. "As highlighted on a previous occasion, the fact that China is now the world’s second largest economy means that a scenario in which China experiences a hard landing knocking...

Here's Whats Going On With The Report About Siemens Withdrawing €500 Million From SocGen And Depositing It With The ECB Mamta Badkar Sep. 20, 2011, 9:29 AM There's been a lot of confusion about Siemens fund deposit with the European Central Bank (ECB). The Financial Times reported that Siemens withdrew more than €500 million from a large French bank two weeks ago and deposited it with the European Central Bank (ECB). Siemens has since denied the claim and claimed the report was 'factually incorrect'. Instead Siemens is said to have moved an unspecified amount from Societe Generale in mid-July, before...

Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded French banks Credit Agricole SA and Societe Generale SA as the credit-rating company also said it has become increasingly concerned about the funding and liquidity needs of the lenders. Moody’s had said in June that it was considering downgrading France’s top three listed banks because of their exposure to Greek debt and said Wednesday that it is still reviewing BNP Paribas. The announcements came after big swings for French-bank stocks in recent days amid reports that downgrades were imminent and as investors became increasingly nervous about the banks’ funding situation. Shares in Credit Agricole...

France and Italy stand by to bail out biggest banks as euro crisis worsens By Simon Watkins and Dan Atkins Last updated at 11:46 PM on 6th August 2011 Fears are growing this weekend that two of Europe’s largest banks may require a bailout, having been hugely damaged by the worsening crisis across the eurozone. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy is having to confront the possibility that the country’s second-biggest bank, Societe Generale -commonly known as SocGen - is on the brink of disaster after huge losses over loans made to Greece. The chilling possibility of the largest bank in...

Albert Edwards and Dylan Grice's latest must read slideshow: We have just had the worst decade’s performance for equity investors on record. Relative to government bonds, equities have been an even bigger disaster. Surely after such a terrible decade for equity investors things can only get better? On a ten year view, equities may indeed prove to be a good investment. On a 1-2 year view, however, we still see much pain to come. After what we have been though so far, where the bulls? optimism has been crushed in 2001/2 and in 2007/8 surely there must be a heavy...

It was a day of carnage that left 56 people dead and a dark shadow for ever cast over the history of London. But for Jérôme Kerviel, the French rogue trader, 7/7 was the jackpot. Mr Kerviel, whose wild bets on the stock market ended with record losses, celebrated as Britain’s worst terror attack helped him to register a €500,000 profit and to continue a winning streak that brought him “orgasmic pleasure”. The trader made the confession as he told the newspaper Le Parisien how he had lost touch with reality in the pursuit of money-making at Société Générale, the...

Why Kerviel is so unsettling By Christopher Caldwell Published: February 8 2008 18:27 | Last updated: February 8 2008 18:27 “You lose a sense of the amounts when you’re doing this kind of job,” the rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel told Agence France-Presse this week. “Everything gets dematerialised. You can get carried away.” It is possible Mr Kerviel was just using the interview to set up his legal defence. French authorities have accused him, after all, of forgery and breach of trust. Mr Kerviel had risen from the back office at Société Générale to become a “warrant arbitragist”. His job was...

Police question second trader By PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago French police were holding a second person for questioning about the loss of billions at bank Societe Generale, a judicial official said Friday. The person, who worked at a brokerage partially owned by Societe Generale, was taken into custody on Thursday and was still being held, said the official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case. Bank spokeswoman Joelle Rosello confirmed that an employee of Newedge, a 50-percent owned affiliate, was in custody in connection with the scandal. "We are cooperating...

Kerviel: ‘I will not be made a scapegoat’ By FT Reporters Published: February 5 2008 14:33 | Last updated: February 5 2008 19:23 Jérôme Kerviel, the trader accused of fake transactions costing Société Générale billions of euros, on Tuesday broke his silence to insist he would not be used as a “scapegoat”. In his first public comments in nearly two weeks, Mr Kerviel told Agence France Presse he had been “singled out” by the bank. “I am taking my share of responsibility, but I will not be the scapegoat for Société Générale.” Insisting he was “neither suicidal nor depressed’’, he...

January 31, 2008 Bankers call the tune but we pay the piper Carl Mortished: Business Commentary The music stopped and everyone found a seat. As party games go, the version of musical chairs played out in Europe yesterday lacked that frisson of excitement created by uncertainty. In Paris, Daniel Bouton survived as chairman of Soci鴩 G鮩rale; Mervyn King was told to carry on running the Bank of England for a further five years; and in Zurich, Marcel Ospel remained at the head of UBS. As if thumbing his nose at his shareholders watching from the sidelines, MrOspel took the running...

Only one thing will be discussed here in Davos today: the alleged fraud by a trader at SocGen which has cost the French bank €4.9bn, or £3.7bn. I feel slightly sick thinking about it, as I sit surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The sheer scale of the loss is overpowering. It takes the crisis in the global banking markets into a whole new area. So here are the questions: 1) Did it take place in London, where SocGen has a big presence? 2) Is the loss related to mis-valuation of structured finance products, abuse of what is known as the "mark-to-model"...