It is one of the most significant frauds in the history of finance. In January 2008, Société Générale announced a loss of 4.9 billion euros following the actions of one of its traders, Jérôme Kerviel, who had managed to commit no less than 50 billion euros in his fraud, almost double what the bank had in equity at the time. The only person convicted at the end of the various trials that followed, Jérôme Kerviel has always been vocal about his company's responsibility and has written several books on the subject. A fiction was even produced in 2016, L'outsider. Today, this emblematic affair is the subject of a new documentary series entitled Kerviel: un trader, 50 milliards. It is the first original French documentary series on the Max platform, and it will be broadcast from November 29, in four 45-minute episodes.
From Kerviel to François Hollande
To better understand the motives and consequences of this affair, the series gives the floor to many key protagonists: Jérôme Kerviel of course, but also his close relations, his former communications advisor, executives of Société Générale (including the former CEO of the bank), journalists specializing in the case, and François Hollande. The opportunity to return as closely as possible to the chronology of the affair: the revelation of the fraud, the attempts to resolve the crisis internally, the first revelations to the general public, and the way in which Jérôme Kerviel was viewed through the media.
"Jérôme Kerviel opens up as he has never done before. For the first time, several people from Société Générale, in office at the time of the events, tell, from the inside, what they experienced," says Jean-Louis Pérez, one of the producers of the series. The director is Fred Garson, director of television fiction series such as Insoupçonnable and Une mère parfaite.