Lloyds TSB reported a 6% rise in profits to £3.7bn in 2007, compared with £3.6bn in 2006, despite the credit crunch. It attributed its successful performance to ‘good old fashioned banking’ an approach that smaller banks such as Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley should have taken notice of. Lloyds share price rose 5% on the back of this news.

Lloyds is keen to reinvest some of these profits and is on the lookout for buying opportunities created by the uncertainty in the markets. The money will undoubtedly be spent wisely as Lloyds is seen as a conservative player in the banking sector. With returns like these, Lloyds has proved that this is the best approach to adopt in times of trouble.

Jerome Kerviel, a 31 year old trader at Societe General, now has the dubious honour of being the daddy of all rogue traders, after he racked up £3.6bn of losses. This puts our own Nick Leeson in the shade, who brought down Barings by losing around £800m.

 The losses racked up as a result of trading futures in the Eurostoxx 50 as well as the German and UK indices. The deals amounted to over Euro 50 million, greater than the value of the company he worked for. Although some have suggested the losses would have been much smaller had his bosses not chosen to unwind the trades once they knew of them.

Questions being asked now focus on how this was allowed to happen again, folllowing Barings, given the stringent regulations in the Banking sector. Emphasis will surely turn from Mr Kerviel to his bosses, the compliance department, the back office, internal auditors, external auditors and the stock markets.  Mr Kerviel could well be the scapegoat at one of France’s top banks.