仏ソシエテ巨額損失、元ディーラーを拘束

仏ソシエテ巨額損失、元ディーラーを拘束

仏銀大手ソシエテ・ジェネラルで不正取引を繰り返したとされる元ディーラーの身柄をが警察当局によって拘束されたという記事。

Société Générale’s Sales May Have Incited Market Plunge

この記事によれば、先週の全世界的な株暴落は、ソシエテ・ジェネラルが不正な取引を急に清算したことが原因だという見方があるようです。

From his desk in the middle of the trading floor on the sixth floor of Société Générale’s Alicante building in the La Défense business district outside Paris, Mr. Kerviel, 31, took huge bullish positions on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index and the German DAX in particular, according to a fellow trader still working there who insisted on anonymity.

Société Générale rushed to unwind those trades during Monday’s market plunge, and trading in those futures contracts soared to record levels. The bank’s abrupt reversal contributed to a decline that snowballed into an avalanche of sell orders around the world, some traders said.

French Trader Is Remembered as Mr. Average

問題のトレーダーは、まったく目立たない人物だったようです。本当に彼だけが巨額損失の原因だったのかについて疑念を持つ向きもあります。ソシエテ・ジェネラルの他の損失（おそらくサブプライムローンに関係するもの）のスケープゴートになったのではないかという見方もあります。

His less-than-impressive persona has led to doubts that he could be the sole culprit in the bank’s enormous losses. Despite a lack of evidence, some financial experts, especially in France, have suggested that Mr. Kerviel might be a scapegoat for other losses incurred by Société Générale, some perhaps related to subprime mortgages.

ただし、彼は１０年ほど前に設立された、金融取引を処理し監視するバックオフィスの人材を養成する大学院を卒業しています。

Mr. Kerviel completed his undergraduate studies in Nantes and then attended the University of Lyon for graduate school. The university opened more than 10 years ago backed by major French banks, with the express purpose of training students for the unglamorous middle and back-office functions of processing and monitoring trades.

この大学院の学部長は、こうしたリスク管理における教育訓練が、金融不正に関して利点となったのかもしれないと述べています。

André Tiran, the dean of the faculty at the University of Lyon, theorized that Mr. Kerviel’s training in risk control management might have given him some critical advantages in any financial scheming.

“It’s a little bit like becoming a thief with training in locksmithing,” Mr. Tiran said. “If you’re good at being a locksmith, then to steal is easier.”