Before the subprime mortgage crisis began unfolding in 2008, causing chaos in world markets and misery among millions of homeowners, another financial apocalypse was already underway at one of France’s most prestigious banks. And only one man, a young trader, is the alleged responsible for the first and most extravagant in a series of scandals that will shake the financial markets worldwide: Jérôme Kerviel. Indeed, the biggest banking loss of its kind in history (almost €5 billion) is discovered at the French bank Société Générale and soon attributed to this quiet, low-profile, 31 years old employee…

Hired as a simple clerk at the same bank, 8 years before, no one could have predicted that Jérôme Kerviel would go so far, so fast. He became the star of the trading floor, nicknamed “the cash machine” by his colleagues.

When all was said and done, the bank suffered a loss of €4.9 billion and Kerviel was fired, sued, arrested and imprisoned, becoming the most famous Frenchman to ever sit in front of a Bloomberg Terminal and pay the price for it.

Christophe Barratier (The Chorus) tells the true story of France’s greatest financial scandal.