When a member of the French elite is in trouble they call Jean Veil. Michael Goldhaber charts the rise of the legendary French litigator and the firm to which he gives his name
On Monday, January 21, 2008, back when extreme stock volatility was still a novelty, world equity markets plunged 6% with no full explanation apparent. Then, on Thursday, the mystery abated when at least a partial explanation for the sell-off appeared. The French bank Societe Generale (Soc Gen) announced that a young trader named Jerome Kerviel had somehow, without the bank noticing, bet €50bn that stock markets would rise. Soc Gen had spent the past few days desperately selling his positions – and set a new standard for rogue trading losses at €6.4bn. Hit by scandal and a potential legal mess, Soc Gen did what plenty of other rich and powerful French institutions would do in such a situation: It hired Jean Veil.
