The young French trader at the heart of Societe Generale’s record losses is reported as feeling crushed after a guilty verdict was handed down on him.
Jerome Kerviel was a Junior Trader at one Frances largest banks
trading currencies, exchange traded funds and futures. Mr Kerviel was accused of working alone with losses attributed to his actions being approximately 4.9 billion euros in January 2008.
French police charged Mr. Kerviel, accusing him of forgery, unauthorised computer use and breach of trust. He was found guilty on all counts and sentence to 5 years (2 years suspended) and told to repay 4.9 billion euros damages.
Mr. Kerviel’s defence has always been that his superiors at the bank knew full well what he was doing and that the practice of making risky trades was commonplace. Analysts and commentators within the industry seem to agree with Mr. Kerviel leading to his family claiming that he has been made a scapegoat for the Banks failings.