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The article focuses on mistakes made by the management of the French bank Societe Generale which allowed employee Jerome Kerviel to create unauthorized and ficticious stock trades which cost the firm over $7 billion. The bank ignored messages of warnings from the Eurex financial exchange. It is said to have encouraged a culture of risk-taking which allowed supervisors to ignore Kerviel's methods as long as they seemed profitable.

The article reports that the board of directors of the French bank Societe Generale took no action on the offer to resign made by Chief Executive Officer Daniel Bouton, leaving him in his position. Anonymous sources indicated this decision may be a temporary one. Bouton is under pressure to resign due to the $7 billion in losses created though the fictitious stock trades of bank traded Jerome Kerviel.

The article reports that the French bank Societe Generale is under increased scrutiny regarding the undocumented stock trades by former employee Jerome Kerviel that resulted in over $7 billion in losses. Kerviel told prosecutors his fictitious trades began in 2005, a year earlier than the bank had stated. This raised questions as to how Kerviel operated without detection. There have been calls for the bank's Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Bouton, to resign.

Reports on the merger of two of France's biggest banks, Crédit Agricole and Crédit Lyonnais. Breadth and scope of the combined bank; Details of the merger; Focus on retail banking, specialized financial services and asset management; Possible challenges the banks may face integrating themselves; Outlook for the banks' credit ratings; Reactions of the French government, analysts and investors.