Posted on 02/06/2008 3:50:03 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Kerviel: ‘I will not be made a scapegoat’
By FT Reporters
Published: February 5 2008 14:33 | Last updated: February 5 2008 19:23
Jérôme Kerviel, the trader accused of fake transactions costing Société Générale billions of euros, on Tuesday broke his silence to insist he would not be used as a “scapegoat”.
In his first public comments in nearly two weeks, Mr Kerviel told Agence France Presse he had been “singled out” by the bank. “I am taking my share of responsibility, but I will not be the scapegoat for Société Générale.”
Insisting he was “neither suicidal nor depressed’’, he said: “I never had any personal ambition in this affair. The aim was to earn money for the bank.”
“You lose your sense of the sums involved when you are in this kind of work. It’s disembodied. You get a bit carried away.”
Meanwhile, SocGen’s board is expected to meet this evening to discuss the conditions for its €5.5bn ($8bn) rescue fundraising, which could be launched as soon as Friday or next week– depending on market volatility. A formal launch early next week would allow for a two-week marketing period that would close just after SocGen unveils its annual results on 21 February.
The Financial Times has learnt that SocGen has lined up Merrill Lynch to advise on its defence against any potential approach. Bringing Merrill onside points to possible nervousness about SocGen’s vulnerability, given the US bank’s experience with the successful consortum bid to break up ABN Amro, the Dutch lender.
SocGen appears to be facing the threat of class action lawsuits in the US. It emerged on Tuesday that the Washington office of the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation that goes beyond controversial share sales by a director on the day the rogue trading was discovered.
This would cancel out ammunition some French could use to bash U.S. for recent subprime problem.:-)
Ping!
What are they going to sue him for? He only made 90/K a year.
Somebody must have handed the SEC a photo of the guy in front of his screen hitting the button and a videotape of him bragging about it in front of the shareholders. That’s about the only time the SEC takes an interest in anybody “in the club” for insider trading.
An hourly employee scoring $500 in his IRA after he heard the company just got a big contract in much greater danger of being prosecuted.
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