Jerome Kerviel - Genius of Fraud
Jerome Kerviel - Genius of Fraud
Background: Imagine growing up in a working class European family that is getting by but is by no means rick. You 've done well in undergraduate college and are on the verge of graduating with a Masters in Finance from a reputable university but didn 't do much to differentiate yourself while there. After grad school, you receive an offer for a middle office position at a large investment bank who guaranteed there 's room to grow into a trading position, you 're ultimate dream. You 've finally made the move onto the desk and are doing well but again, haven 't distinguished yourself enough to get that immense bonus. And you think to yourself, what can I do to impress my bosses? That, in a nutshell, describes Jerome Kerviel. Jerome Kerviel grew up in Pont-l 'Abbé, Brittany in Northwestern France to a hairdresser and blacksmith. He received a bachelor 's degree in Finance from the University of Nantes, later attending University Lyon 2 to pursue a Master in Finance where he graduated in 2000 with a specialization in organization and control of financial markets. According to a source at Lyon, there was nothing remarkable about him. He was a student like everyone else but didn 't distinguish himself in any way. Kerviel began at Societe General in the middle office after receiving his Master 's degree. He initially began in the compliance department and was promoted to the Delta One products team in 2005 as a junior trader. This area of the bank dealt with program trading, exchange traded funds, swaps, index and quantitative trading. He did well at the bank but again didn 't set himself apart and wasn 't considered a star. In 2006, he received a salary of EUR 74,000 with a bonus of EUR 60,000 hoping that in 2007, based on his performance, that bonus could be upwards of EUR 300,000. In early 2006, Kerviel began creating fictitious trades that were initially relatively small. As time progressed, the fake
Background: Imagine growing up in a working class European family that is getting by but is by no means rick. You 've done well in undergraduate college and are on the verge of graduating with a Masters in Finance from a reputable university but didn 't do much to differentiate yourself while there. After grad school, you receive an offer for a middle office position at a large investment bank who guaranteed there 's room to grow into a trading position, you 're ultimate dream. You 've finally made the move onto the desk and are doing well but again, haven 't distinguished yourself enough to get that immense bonus. And you think to yourself, what can I do to impress my bosses? That, in a nutshell, describes Jerome Kerviel. Jerome Kerviel grew up in Pont-l 'Abbé, Brittany in Northwestern France to a hairdresser and blacksmith. He received a bachelor 's degree in Finance from the University of Nantes, later attending University Lyon 2 to pursue a Master in Finance where he graduated in 2000 with a specialization in organization and control of financial markets. According to a source at Lyon, there was nothing remarkable about him. He was a student like everyone else but didn 't distinguish himself in any way. Kerviel began at Societe General in the middle office after receiving his Master 's degree. He initially began in the compliance department and was promoted to the Delta One products team in 2005 as a junior trader. This area of the bank dealt with program trading, exchange traded funds, swaps, index and quantitative trading. He did well at the bank but again didn 't set himself apart and wasn 't considered a star. In 2006, he received a salary of EUR 74,000 with a bonus of EUR 60,000 hoping that in 2007, based on his performance, that bonus could be upwards of EUR 300,000. In early 2006, Kerviel began creating fictitious trades that were initially relatively small. As time progressed, the fake