Soci\u00c3\u00a9t\u00c3\u00a9 G\u00c3\u00a9n\u00c3\u00a9rale, one of the largest banks in Europe, was thrown into turmoil Thursday after it revealed that a rogue employee had executed a series of “elaborate, fictitious transactions” that cost the company more than $7 billion, the biggest loss ever recorded in the financial industry by a single trader.<\/p>\n
Daniel Bouton, the Soci\u00c3\u00a9t\u00c3\u00a9 G\u00c3\u00a9n\u00c3\u00a9rale chairman, said the employee, later identified by other bank employees as J\u00c3\u00a9r\u00c3\u00b4me Kerviel, had confessed to the \u00e2\u201a\u00ac4.9 billion fraud, although he did not appear to have profited personally from the trades. The bank has started legal proceedings against the employee, whom the governor of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer, said was currently “on the run.”<\/p>\n
Later, a woman identified as the trader’s lawyer, Elisabeth Meyer, said on French television that he was “not fleeing” and was “available for judicial authorities.” She did not say where he was.<\/p>\n