d him of exceeding his authority to engage in unauthorized trades totaling as much as €49.9 billion, a figure far higher than the bank's total market capitalization. Bank officials claim that Kerviel tried to conceal the activity by creating losing trades intentionally so as to offset his early gains.[19] According to the BBC, Kerviel generated €1.4 billion in hidden profits at the beginning of 2008.[20] His employers say they uncovered unauthorized trading traced to Kerviel on 19 January 2008. The bank then closed out these positions over three days of trading beginning 21 January 2008, a period after which the market experienced a large drop in equity indices, and losses attributed are estimated at €4.9 billion ($7 billion).