Madoff and frenchmen

It is striking that up until a few quarters ago, the french banks were often criticised for not adopting a more "anglo-saxon" model, particularly in investment and risk management. With hindsight, this has probably positioned french banks quite well for the post-Lehman era (Kerviel aside).

With respect to Madoff, my previous point about due diligence has received an appreciated (although unconnected) boost from Societe Generale. Apparently a routine due diligence by Societe General picked up something awry in Madoff's track record nearly 5 years ago. Bernie went straight on their internal blacklist. It just goes to show that the boring number crunching pays off.