In 2007, Societe Generale took a $7.2 billion loss from the actions of a rogue trader named Jerome Kerviel. Nevertheless, the bank posted a profit of $1.39 billion.
Now we fast forward to the final quarter of 2008 when most banks in the U.S. and Europe suffered huge losses. Yet in the last quarter of 2008 Societe Generale is expected to break even. Why is this? Societe Generale said that it had learned from the mistakes made in 2007 after the Kerviel scandal and put a stricter risk reduction strategy in place.
Why is all of this so important? Right now, major banks in the U.S. and Europe are still hemorrhaging with big losses and don't seem to be able to get a handle on them. So it makes perfectly good sense to find out what Societe Generale did right. To that end, we should send a delegation of U.S. representatives including Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary nominee Geithner and some of our banking geniuses to meet with Societe Generale and find out what they are doing that kept them out of trouble in 2008. Do you believe that this pilgrimage would be helpful?
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