Major French bank confirms investigation into alleged money
(APW_ENG_20020405.0255)
1) Societe Generale SA confirmed Friday that one of its local managers in Paris has been placed under formal investigation in connection with an alleged money laundering scheme between France and China.
2) French judicial authorities placed the manager, the commercial director for eastern Paris, under investigation at the end of last January, the bank said.
3) Societe Generale, one of France's largest banks, is already facing an inquiry into alleged involvement in a separate money laundering ring between France and Israel.
4) According to a report in French newspaper Le Monde, judicial authorities suspect Societe Generale of taking part in recycling some 200 million euros (dlrs 175 million) in suspect funds.
5) A spokesman for Societe Generale said the probe involves three accounts opened by the French bank.
6) He said suspicions harbored by the bank about the accounts had been communicated to the authorities, but the accounts were kept open to allow further investigation.
7) ``We retain complete confidence in our colleague and will guarantee the costs of his defense,'' said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.


Societe Generale uncovers massive fraud by futures trader
(APW_ENG_20080124.0526)
1) French bank Societe Generale said Thursday it has uncovered a euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion) fraud -- one of history's biggest -- by a single futures trader who fooled investors and overstepped his authority.
2) The fraud destabilized a major bank already exposed to the subprime crisis. France's second largest bank by market value said it would be forced to seek euro5.5 billion (US$8.02 billion) in new capital.
3) Trading in Societe Generale's shares, which have lost nearly half their value over the past six months, was suspended on the Paris bourse. It was unclear when trading would resume.
4) The bank said it detected the fraud at its French markets division the weekend of Jan. 19-20. In a statement announcing the discovery, it called the fraud "exceptional in its size and nature."
5) It said a trader at the futures desk had misled investors in 2007 and 2008 through a "scheme of elaborate fictitious transactions."
6) The trader, who was not named, used his knowledge of the group's security systems to conceal his fraudulent positions, a SocGen statement said.
7) The individual confessed to the fraud, the bank said, and was being dismissed. His supervisors were to leave the group. Chief Executive Daniel Bouton offered his resignation but it was rejected by the board.
8) An analysis confirmed the "isolated and exceptional nature" of the fraud, the bank said.
9) The fraud appeared to be the largest ever by a single trader. If confirmed, it would far outstrip the Nick Leeson trading scandal in 1995 that bankrupted British bank Barings. Barings collapsed after Leeson, the bank's Singapore general manager of futures trading, lost 860 million pounds -- then worth US$1.38 billion -- on Asian futures markets, wiping out the bank's cash reserves. The company had been in business for more than 230 years.
10) The fraud was not as big as the 1991 scandal that led to the demise of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. Claims by depositors and creditors there exceeded US$10 billion at the time.
11) International bank regulators seized BCCI, which had headquarters in Luxembourg, London and the Cayman Islands, on July 5, 1991. They acted on auditors' reports that described huge losses from illegal loans to corporate insiders and from trading transactions.
12) At Societe Generale, the fraud announcement came on the back of subprime-related difficulties. Subprime writedowns linked to the crisis in financial markets amounted to euro2.05 billion (US$2.99 billion), Societe Generale said.
13) As a result, the bank is planning a capital hike in the "following weeks."
14) The write-down and losses will lead the company to post a net profit of euro600 million to euro800 million (US$874 million to US$1.16 billion) for all of 2007, the Paris-based bank said.
15) The Bank of France said it was immediately informed of the fraud and was investigating. The French market regulator said it had no comment. France's Banking Federation also declined to comment.
16) Shares of SocGen closed down 4.1 percent at euro79.08 (US$115.25) on Wednesday. Full-year results will be announced Feb. 21.


A look at some major trading frauds
(APW_ENG_20080124.1224)
1) The futures trader who allegedly bilked French bank Societe Generale out of euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion) is the latest in a list of rogue traders credited with billions of dollars in fraudulent dealings. Here is a glance of some major cases:
2) -- 2008: French bank Societe Generale uncovers an alleged euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion) fraud by a futures trader, Jerome Kerviel, who fooled regulators and overstepped his authority.
3) -- 2002: Former currency trader John Rusnak accused of hiding US$691 million in losses at Allfirst bank of Baltimore, at the time under parent Allied Irish Bank, pleads guilty to one of the largest bank fraud cases in U.S. history.
4) -- 1996: Sumitomo, a global metals trader, discovered $2.6 billion in losses from unauthorized trades in September 1996, and traced them to unauthorized trades made by one of its own traders, Yasuo Hamanaka. After the announcement, copper prices plunged.
5) -- 1995: Collapse of Britain's Barings Bank after a trader in Singapore, Nick Leeson, lost 860 million pounds (then worth US$1.38 billion) on futures trades. The fraud prompted banks worldwide to tighten internal checks.
6) -- 1991: Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), operating in nearly 70 countries, is seized by bank regulators, acting on auditors' reports of huge losses from illegal loans to corporate insiders and from trading transactions. Some 250,000 depositors left without funds. Claims exceeded US$10 billion.


Union officials: Societe Generale trader suffered
(APW_ENG_20080124.1533)
1) Trader Jerome Kerviel, said by Societe Generale bank to have racked up euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion) in fraud-related losses, had been suffering from "family problems," according to three union officials briefed Thursday by management.
2) Kerviel, a Frenchman in his 30s, is at the center of the fraud case uncovered last weekend. His lawyer Elisabeth Meyer said on French television network BFM that he "is not fleeing" and is "available for judicial authorities," without specifying where he was.
3) Union officials representing employees at the bank -- Michel Marchet of CGT, Alain Treviglio of CFDT and Pascal Colin of CFTC -- said managers who briefed them Thursday about the case told them that the trader was having "family problems."
4) Treviglio said the trader "might have lost his mind a bit."
5) One of his former teachers, Gisele Reynaud, described Kerviel as a "brilliant" student. She taught him at a university in Lyon, where he graduated in 2000 after an intensive year-long course in how to track, monitor and keep account of the type of trades that he went on to do at Societe Generale.
6) She said the course was very technical and intense, and included accounting, information technology and law.
7) "He was a nice guy," Reynaud said. "He was brilliant."
8) The trader had worked for the bank since 2000 and earned a salary and bonus of less than euro100,000 (US$145,700), executives said. The bank said he netted no personal financial gains from his operations.
9) Marchet of the CGT said his union was concerned that Kerviel may have been trying to get spectacular results as a way to boost his bonus, and he said the system of bonuses for traders is "something we want to talk about with management."
10) "It's possible that he took positions with exaggerated risks, and when he had losses he tried to hide them -- but with the stock market crisis, and an error that he seems to have committed, he was found out," Marchet said.
11) Kerviel has a page on the Internet site Facebook but no public photo posted.
12) Outside the Societe Generale offices at Paris' La Defense business district, employees expressed shock, and several who had shares in the company said they were worried about their investments.
13) Treviglio, of the CFDT, said staff were baffled as to how a lone trader with relatively little experience could have committed such large-scale fraud.
14) Since the bank insisted that Kerviel did not profit personally, Treviglio struggled to understand his motives: "Was it to hurt the company?" he wondered.


French police search Societe Generale in probe of fraud blamed on rogue trader
(APW_ENG_20080126.0258)
1) French police searched the headquarters of banking giant Societe Generale as part of a probe into massive fraud blamed on a single rogue trader, a bank official said Saturday.
2) Financial police conducted the search Friday night, said spokeswoman Stephanie Carson-Parker. She gave no other details. Police also searched the apartment of trader Jerome Kerviel, accused of fraud costing the bank euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion).


Trader taken in for questioning in fraud probe to be held for up to 24 more hours
(APW_ENG_20080127.0459)
1) A trader held for questioning in a multibillion-euro (-dollar) banking fraud probe is to be kept in custody for up to a further 24 hours, French judicial officials said Sunday.
2) Jerome Kerviel, blamed by French bank Societe Generale for a fraud the bank said cost it euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion), can be held until Monday afternoon, said judicial officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Kerviel, 31, was taken into custody on Saturday.


Societe Generale says trader used multiple fraud techniques
(APW_ENG_20080127.0512)
1) Societe Generale detailed Sunday how a young trader allegedly lost the bank billions, saying he hacked computers and used "several fraudulent methods" to skirt controls.
2) In a five-page document, the bank also sought to counter the notion that it had disrupted markets by unwinding the massive positions built up by the trader. The bank took three days last week to sell off the contracts on the Eurostoxx, DAX and FTSE indices, but said that it had done so in a "controlled" way.
3) The trader, Jerome Kerviel, 31, was being questioned Sunday for a second day by police.
4) Societe Generale said Kerviel misappropriated other people's computer access codes, falsified documents and employed other methods to cover his tracks -- helped by his previous experience working in offices that monitor traders.
5) "He had a very good understanding of all of Societe Generale's processing and control procedures," the statement said.
6) The bank said Kerviel had built up a position worth some euro50 billion (US$73.5 billion) -- which was eventually closed or hedged by last Wednesday with a loss of euro4.9 billion (US$7.21 billion).
7) "The position was unwound over three days in a controlled fashion," it said.


Prosecutor in French bank fraud case calls questioning of trader ' fruitful '
(APW_ENG_20080127.0664)
1) The head of the financial section of the Paris prosecutor's office said Sunday the questioning of a trader implicated in a massive bank fraud case was proving "extremely fruitful"
2) Jean-Michel Aldebert said the questioning of trader Jerome Kerviel was "going very well and the investigation led by the specialists of the financial police is extremely fruitful," he said. Kerviel, who was taken in for questioning on Saturday, can be kept in custody until Monday afternoon.


Lawyer for SocGen trader:
(APW_ENG_20080127.0848)
1) A lawyer for the trader accused by Societe Generale of fraudulent trades costing billions said Sunday that accusations of wrongdoing against his client were being used to hide bad U.S. mortgage investments by the bank.
2) "He didn't steal anything, take anything, he didn't take any profit for himself," the lawyer, Christian Charriere-Bournazel, told The Associated Press by telephone, speaking of his client, Jerome Kerviel. "The suspicion on Kerviel allows the considerable losses that the bank made on subprimes to be hidden," he added.


French finance minister says Societe Generale trader appeared to act alone
(APW_ENG_20080128.0351)
1) France's finance minister said Monday that it appears the trader allegedly behind huge losses at French bank Societe Generale acted alone.
2) Christine Lagarde backed up comments from the bank, which accuses trader Jerome Kerviel of evading its controls to bet euro50 billion (US$73.5 billion) on European markets. "There is no reason in the current state to think that it was anything other than that it was -- a single trader," she told France-2 TV.


Societe Generale CEO revises down slightly estimated loss attributed to rogue trader
(APW_ENG_20080128.0372)
1) The chief executive of Societe Generale said Monday the French bank had revised downward the estimated loss caused by actions of an alleged rogue trader.
2) Daniel Bouton, speaking on Europe-1 radio, said the loss attributed to actions by futures trader Jerome Kerviel -- originally believed to be euro4.9 billion -- was "just over" euro4.82 billion (US$7.09 billion). Bouton also said the bank, which some believe could be vulnerable to a takeover, has not been approached by any possible suitor.


Prosecutor: Trader did not enrich himself but still faces preliminary charges
(APW_ENG_20080128.0574)
1) A Paris prosecutor on Monday asked for preliminary charges of forgery, breach of trust and fraud to be filed against a trader accused by Societe Generale bank of causing the biggest trading fraud by a single person.
2) The prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, also for the first time gave an inkling of what motivated the trader, Jerome Kerviel. He said the 31-year-old did not seek personal profit but wanted to be "an exceptional trader."


Judges file charges against French trader accused of massive fraud, release him
(APW_ENG_20080128.1145)
1) Investigating judges filed preliminary charges Monday against a trader accused of causing billions of euros (dollars) of losses for France's second-largest bank, and he was released from custody while the thorny investigation continues, his lawyer said.
2) The preliminary charges were for "breach of trust" and unauthorized computer activity, said Jerome Kerviel's lawyer, Christian Charriere-Bournazel. The lawyer also said Kerviel had been released, but not did not disclose his whereabouts.


Societe Generale says US investor who sold shares did not know about trader problem
(APW_ENG_20080129.0496)
1) Societe Generale said Tuesday that an American investor who sold euro140 million ($206 million) worth of the French bank's shares earlier this month had no inside information about suspicious trades that later cost the bank billions.
2) Societe Generale is fending off mounting questions about how it handled what it called massive fraud blamed on a single young futures trader. Jerome Kerviel was pinned with preliminary charges on Monday night.
3) A lawyer for a group of small shareholders filed a complaint into possible insider trading Monday after France's market regulator published routine stock sale declarations by board member Robert Day, an investment manager with U.S.-based Trust Company of the West, or TCW.
4) According to five declarations published Monday by the French market regulatory authority, or AMF, Day and his family's trusts and charitable foundations sold shares in Societe Generale on Jan. 9, Jan. 10 and Jan. 18 -- the day the bank says it launched an emergency in-house investigation after Kerviel's transactions begin raising red flags.
5) The value of the five share sales totals euro140 million (US$206 million). Regulators made no allegation of wrongdoing.
6) The bank, in a statement Tuesday, said Day sold the shares during a limited window when board members are authorized to sell stock.
7) "No inside information was used in any way," the statement said. "Mr. Day, like the other board members, was not advised of Mr. Kerviel's trading losses."
8) It also said Day had not been advised of additional losses linked to the crisis in subprime mortgage markets. The bank also announced euro2 billion in subprime-linked losses last week.
9) Analysts had long been predicting that Societe Generale and other French banks would report subprime-related losses for 2007.
10) Josh Pekarsky, a spokesman for Day, said all required government disclosures were made. Day has pledged his cooperation in any inquiries.
11) "No inside information was used in any way with respect to these sales," Pekarsky said.
12) Frederik Canoy, the lawyer who filed the insider trading complaint, called Day's stock sales "the visible side of the iceberg" and predicted other similar announcements would come.


French market regulator opens investigation into bank Societe Generale
(APW_ENG_20080129.0914)
1) The French financial market regulator said Tuesday that it has opened an investigation into French bank Societe Generale, a spokeswoman said.
2) Christine Anglade, a spokeswoman for the Autorite des marches financiers, or AMF, gave no details on the nature of the investigation, and would not say whether it had any relation to alleged rogue trader Jerome Kerviel. The French bank said last week that his actions caused it nearly euro5 billion (US$7 billion) in losses.


French trader claims Societe Generale had to know but turned blind eye to massive risk-taking
(APW_ENG_20080129.1030)
1) Accused French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel told investigators that he believes his Societe Generale bosses were aware of his massive risk-taking on markets but turned a blind eye as long as he earned money, a judicial official said Tuesday.
2) Kerviel told investigators: "I can't believe that my superiors were not aware of the amounts that I was committing, it is impossible to generate such profits with small positions," according to excerpts of his testimony published in Le Monde newspaper. Kerviel's remarks were confirmed by Isabelle Montagne, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office.


French bank Societe Generale ' s board keeps CEO, orders probe of trading losses
(APW_ENG_20080130.1104)
1) French bank Societe Generale kept its embattled CEO and promised a thorough probe of huge trading losses blamed on a single trader, while the country's central bank chief on Wednesday questioned why "malfunctions" at the company went ignored.
2) The board unanimously asked Chief Executive Daniel Bouton and co-chief executive officer Philippe Citerne to continue in their posts, and "confirms its confidence" in them, board member Jean-Martin Folz told reporters afterward.
3) Folz, former CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen, was named to head a committee that the Societe Generale board is setting up to investigate billions of euros (dollars) in losses that the bank announced last week, stunning an already shaky banking world.
4) The committee has asked auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to help in the probe, the bank said in a statement. It will examine the causes and sizes of the trading losses and look into whether the bank accurately communicated information about the scandal.
5) The statement gave no timetable for the committee's report.
6) Bouton offered to resign as the trading crisis unfolded last week and the bank said it had lost euro4.82 billion (US$7.09 billion) in unwinding trades by 31-year-old futures trader Jerome Kerviel. The board refused his offer.
7) Questions have mounted about how Kerviel could have been allowed to fool his superiors, and how the bank handled the discovery of Kerviel's unauthorized transactions.
8) "We must focus on the reasons why the anomalies, the malfunctions, were not spotted, analyzed, or passed upward to a high-enough level, dealt with and followed up .... That is going to be at the heart of our investigation," Bank of France chief Christian Noyer said at a hearing before the French Senate.
9) The trader told investigators that his bosses turned a blind eye to his questionable deals as long as he brought in money for the bank, according to excerpts published by two media organizations Tuesday. The bank's lawyer said he was lying.
10) Noyer was questioned in the Senate along with the head of France's financial market regulator, Michel Prada.
11) Prada said the market watchdog left it up to Bouton to undo his trades and that he "acted well."
12) He said the watchdog did not authorize or intervene in the bank's decision to unwind its positions. "We simply said that we would apply the law to allow him to handle a major problem in an extraordinarily short time, three days," he said.
13) The board meeting was followed by a gathering of bank employees, worried about their jobs and the fate of one of Europe's most respected banks.
14) Several hundred bank employees defended Bouton in an impromptu demonstration Wednesday, saying his departure would only make things worse.
15) Amid concerns that a gem of France's banking industry is in jeopardy and vulnerable, Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said his government will seek to block any hostile bid for the bank.
16) Such prospects raised eyebrows in Brussels, where the EU internal markets commissioner cautioned France on Wednesday to treat potential bidders for Societe Generale equally and without regard to national interests.
17) "The same rules apply as in other takeover situations under free movement of capital rules. Potential bidders are to be treated in an undiscriminatory manner," Charlie McCreevy said in a statement through his spokesman.
18) Analysts are also speculating about the dismantling of Societe Generale, with its units being divided up among other leading banks.
19) Analysts say France's largest bank and Societe Generale's chief competitor, BNP Paribas, would be the most likely buyer of all or part of the struggling bank. Other names mentioned include French rival Credit Agricole, Britain's HSBC Holdings, Germany's Deutsche Bank AG, Spain's Banco Santander SA and Italy's UniCredit SpA.
20) BNP chief financial officer Philippe Bordenave, speaking as the bank announced a drop in fourth-quarter profits for 2007 on Wednesday, refused to comment on Societe Generale's future.
21) Despite the disappointing results, Celent analyst Axel Pierron said the bank's relatively limited exposure to the subprime market and its strategy of diversification were some good news out of the BNP report.
22) Pierron said that results could drive a fresh round of market speculation that BNP may be mulling an acquisition of Societe Generale.
23) Shares of Societe Generale were up more than 5 percent Wednesday afternoon at euro82.51 ($121.89) on the Paris stock exchange. The stock, which has lost half its value since the middle of last year, has bobbed up and down since the announcement of the trading loss Jan. 24.


French finance minister says Societe Generale controls failed before trading loss
(APW_ENG_20080204.0489)
1) French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Monday that some internal controls at Societe Generale failed or were not heeded before the banking giant announced billions of euros in losses precipitated by a rogue trader.
2) Lagarde submitted a report on the case to the French prime minister Monday that notes the bank's weaknesses but largely backs up its version of events before and after the bombshell announcement Jan. 24 of the trading drama.
3) Lagarde said the bank followed market rules in unwinding the trader's transactions. Her report suggested other banks could be susceptible to similar problems and urged greater controls on banks in France and worldwide.
4) "Very clearly, certain mechanisms of internal controls of Societe Generale did not function, and those that functioned were not always followed by appropriate modifications," Lagarde told reporters after submitting her report.
5) The bank says it lost euro4.82 billion (US$7.09 billion) in cleaning up unauthorized transactions by trader Jerome Kerviel. It says Kerviel evaded the bank's security controls and overstepped his authority and bet euro50 billion (US$73 billion) -- more than the bank's market value -- on futures in European equity markets.
6) Lagarde's report said the Finance Ministry had no reason to question the bank's assertion that Kerviel acted alone.
7) The bank would not comment Monday on the report.
8) The report did not assign blame but highlighted lessons to be learned from the scandal, which has deeply shaken France's banking sector and prompted speculation that Societe Generale could be bought out or broken up. Lagarde defended and explained the report later Monday to lawmakers at the National Assembly.
9) The bank says the losses were so staggering because of bad timing: Just as it discovered Kerviel's activity and started closing his positions, world financial markets fell. Some have speculated the bank's actions in liquidating Kerviel's moves may have helped send stock markets down.
10) Lagarde said Societe Generale's management of the transactions was "in conformity with the existing regulations."
11) "The unwinding of the positions at the source of the loss on Jan. 21, 22 and 23 was done in a professional way in difficult market conditions that could not be attributed to Societe Generale," Lagarde said in a statement.
12) Lagarde's report said that if Societe Generale had announced the unauthorized positions before closing them, that could have upset "the stability of the French and international financial systems."
13) Lagarde urged closer study of trading risks linked to human error or fraud and suggested tighter and more consistent banking controls.
14) "France will propose ... that discussions at a European and international level be accelerated so that international standards can be applied to all the actors," the report said.
15) The report proposed that the French Banking Commission should be allowed to impose higher penalties on banks that break the rules.
16) The loss wiped out the bulk of SocGen's net profit for 2007, and came as the bank is already suffering from the crisis on U.S. subprime mortgage markets.
17) The bank's shares, which have fluctuated wildly since the announcement, were trading down 3.1 percent at euro81.05 (US$120.68) at midday trading Monday.
18) Investigating judges have filed preliminary charges against Kerviel for forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer activity.


Report: French police question second trader over massive losses at Societe Generale
(APW_ENG_20080208.0482)
1) French police were questioning a second trader Friday about whether he knew of trades that led to massive losses at bank Societe Generale, respected daily Le Monde reported.
2) Police said they could not comment, and officials at the prosecutors' office were unavailable for comment. Le Monde reported that the trader was being questioned about his relationship with Jerome Kerviel, a futures trader accused by Societe Generale of massive unauthorized bets on European markets that the bank said cost nearly euro5 billion (more than $7 billion) to unwind.
3) Societe Generale has said it believes that Kerviel had no accomplices. Spokespeople for the bank did not immediately return calls Friday morning seeking comment on Le Monde's report.
4) The newspaper reported that the trader in custody worked for a Societe Generale affiliate, Fimat. That company is now called Newedge. Its communications director was in a meeting Friday morning and not immediately available to comment on Le Monde's report, said a woman who answered his telephone and did not give her name.
5) Le Monde said police suspect that the second trader was aware of Kerviel's activities. It said he was taken into custody after a search of his company offices on Thursday.


French police question second trader over massive losses at Societe Generale
(APW_ENG_20080208.0591)
1) French police were holding a second person for questioning Friday in a probe of massive losses at bank Societe Generale, a judicial official said.
2) The person, from a brokerage part-owned by Societe Generale, was taken into custody on Thursday and was still being held Friday, said the official, who refused to be identified discussing the sensitive case.


French court places trader in Societe General scandal in provisional detention
(APW_ENG_20080208.0940)
1) A Paris court on Friday ordered French trader Jerome Kerviel to be jailed while investigations continue into massive losses at Societe Generale.
2) The Paris prosecutor's office had requested that Kerviel go behind bars. He faces preliminary charges of forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer activity.


SocGen launches heavily discounted capital hike
(APW_ENG_20080211.0359)
1) French bank Societe Generale SA on Monday launched a heavily discounted euro5.5 billion (nearly US$8 billion) rights issue aimed at filling a capital gap it says was caused by trader Jerome Kerviel, while also lifting its net profit forecast for 2007.
2) The bank said net profit for 2007 is expected to be euro947 million (US$1.37 billion), although the figure is subject to a continued investigation into activities at SocGen investment bank and may be revised again.
3) The rights issue came as the bank works to address fallout from Kerviel's massive unauthorized bets on European futures markets. The bank says it cost nearly 5 billion euros (more than $7 billion) to unwind Kerviel's positions.
4) Societe Generale said in January that the trading loss would wipe out the bulk of its earnings for 2007 and that it expected net profit in the range of euro600 million (US$871 million) to euro800 million (US$1.16 billion).
5) However, write-downs linked to fallout from the U.S. subprime crisis were higher than previously stated at euro2.6 billion (US$3.77 billion) compared with the euro2.05 billion (US$2.98 billion) announced in January.
6) The rights issue is needed to help reinforce the bank's finances in the wake of the trading scandal and is being offered at a heavy discount to the current share price, with shareholders entitled to four subscription rights for each new share at euro47.50 (US$68.94) each -- almost 40 percent below SocGen's Friday closing share price of euro77.72 (US$112.80).
7) The subscription period will run from Feb. 21 to Feb. 29, the bank said.
8) Societe Generale also announced a number of new targets following an efficiency study launched last year. It said it aims to lift gross operating profit by euro1 billion a year by 2010 by rationalizing its activities.
9) Return on equity should be between 19 percent and 20 percent in 2009, and it intends maintaining its dividend payout ratio at 45 percent from 2008 to 2010, the bank said.
10) Kerviel, a 31-year-old futures trader, was sent to La Sante jail outside Paris on Friday pending further investigation into his case.


Lawyer seeks questioning of French trader ' s bosses in Societe Generale probe
(APW_ENG_20080214.1560)
1) A lawyer for shareholders of French bank Societe Generale asked judges Thursday to question a senior supervisor of a trader the bank blames for major losses and to revoke the company's status as "victim" in the probe.
2) Frederik Canoy, representing a shareholder association called APPAC, said senior officials at the bank must have been aware of trader Jerome Kerviel's unauthorized activity.
3) "Societe Generale, in presenting itself as a victim, is an impostor," Canoy said by telephone. "The real victims are the shareholders."
4) Two investigating judges are questioning people as they look into the affair, while Kerviel is in prison pinned with preliminary charges.
5) APPAC, which says shareholders suffered as a result of the trading losses, and Societe Generale, which says the bank suffered as a result of the losses, are both considered complainants in the case.
6) Canoy said he sent a letter Thursday to judges asking that Societe Generale's status be changed. It was unclear when the judges would consider his request.
7) The bank says Kerviel evaded computer controls and overstepped his authority to bet massively in futures in European equity indices, and that it lost nearly euro5 billion (more than US$7 billion) cleaning up his trades. The bank says he acted alone, but Kerviel said during questioning that his superiors looked the other way when he was making money for the bank.
8) In the lawyer's letter, Canoy asked the judges to question Martial Rouyere, the head of the trading desk where Kerviel worked. Canoy, who has access to legal documents filed in the case, suggested Rouyere had knowledge of Kerviel's activity but did not stop it because in 2007 Kerviel's trades were gaining money for the bank.
9) Officials at Societe Generale would not comment on Canoy's claim, or say whether Rouyere is still employed with the company.
10) Rouyere's name repeatedly came up in computer text messages Kerviel sent to a broker who has been questioned in the case, according to excerpts of the messages published in Nouvel Obs weekly over the weekend.
11) Kerviel was questioned for a third time Wednesday, for five hours.


Societe Generale trader acted alone under watch of superiors, lawyer says
(APW_ENG_20080215.0918)
1) Jerome Kerviel worked alone on the trades that French bank Societe Generale says led to billions of euros (dollars) of losses -- although his bosses must have known what he was doing, one of his lawyers said in an interview Friday.
2) Guillaume Selnet is seeking to get Kerviel out of jail, where he was sent by a French court a week ago on concerns that if left free he could have contacted possible accomplices.
3) "Jerome, since the start, has stated that he was acting alone," Selnet told The Associated Press at his office in Paris.
4) "The more relevant question is whether or not the whole staff of SocGen, who condoned everything that Jerome was doing over two and a half years, can or not be called accomplices."
5) "The facts speak for themselves. Jerome Kerviel was a junior trader on his team. For two and a half years he traded and invested up to twice the bank's value on the markets. Could he have done that without ever anyone in SocGen noticing?"
6) Societe Generale declined to comment via spokesperson Laura Schalk.
7) Kerviel was ordered held in Paris' La Sante prison last Friday pending further investigation into his case. His lawyers have lodged an appeal for his release.
8) Selnet said information may have been manipulated to ensure Kerviel's detention, citing "rumors" that were "leaked on purpose" to media about his state-of-mind and monthly phone bills exceeding euro1,000 (US$1,460).
9) Selnet said that being kept behind bars "reinforces this false idea that he is the Houdini of finance."
10) On Jan. 24, Societe Generale stunned the banking world with its announcement that it had uncovered Kerviel's unauthorized trades a few days earlier and that unwinding them had cost nearly euro5 billion (more than US$7 billion).
11) Kerviel, 31, was a junior trader on the Delta One desk charged with "plain vanilla" trading -- or the more basic forms of futures trading. He took home a relatively modest salary for the finance world of euro47,500 (US$69,470) last year -- excluding the results-related bonus, his lawyer said.
12) Yet he had been betting on futures markets with euro50 billion (US$73.13 billion) -- more than Societe Generale's market value.
13) The bank said he hid his positions and avoided controls thanks to his computer skills and experience from previous jobs in the bank's back offices that keep records of and process transactions.
14) Selnet disputed SocGen's version, saying Kerviel's superiors must have known and looked the other way while he was making money for the bank. His trades were in the black last year, but plunged in January before they were discovered.
15) "Although he was the youngest trader, he was by far the most profitable of the team. He was only entitled because of his age to a nominal bonus. What we can say so far is that apparently the rest of the team, including the senior members, was served bonuses based on Jerome's trades."
16) Judges probing the case questioned Kerviel for a third time Wednesday, for five hours. Selnet denied suggestions that he considered suicide.
17) "It's very tough for him but since the start Jerome has been very courageous," he said.


Probe at France ' s Societe Generale finds no complicity behind big trading loss
(APW_ENG_20080220.1230)
1) Investigators of alleged fraud at Societe Generale said Wednesday that they have found no proof of misuse of funds or signs that more than one trader was behind a multibillion-euro loss at the French bank.
2) In an interim report, internal investigators at France's second-largest bank said procedures were followed correctly but they failed to stop futures trader Jerome Kerviel, accused of carrying out unauthorized trades that forced the bank to mop up almost euro5 billion (US$7.33 billion) in losses.


Probe at Societe Generale finds no complicity behind big trading loss
(APW_ENG_20080221.0557)
1) Officials investigating a multi-billion-euro trading scandal at French bank Societe Generale said that a preliminary internal probe found that the only trader implicated in the scandal acted alone.
2) An internal investigating committee said Wednesday night that it found no evidence that anyone helped futures trader Jerome Kerviel hide his positions or that he may have made personal monetary gains through the allegedly unauthorized positions.
3) Societe Generale has said Kerviel began trading illicitly in 2005 for modest amounts, which became more substantial from March 2007 and built up to bets totaling euro50 billion (US$73.28 billion) discovered on Jan. 18, which the bank then liquidated.
4) The bank revealed almost euro5 billion (US$7.33 billion) in losses from closing the positions on Jan. 24, saying Kerviel forged documents and emails to suggest he'd hedged his positions.
5) Critics of the bank's version of the events say Kerviel couldn't have amassed such large positions without attracting the attention of his colleagues.
6) In an interim report, the investigators at France's No. 2 bank said control procedures failed to stop Kerviel, 31, because the bank didn't follow up on warnings.
7) "At this stage of the investigations, there is no evidence of embezzlement or internal or external complicity," according to a report by a committee charged with investigating the losses.
8) The bank failed to identify the fraud due "to the efficiency and variety of the concealment techniques employed by the fraudster, secondly to the fact that operating staff did not systematically carry out more detailed checks, and finally to the absence of certain controls (that) might have identified the fraud."
9) Investigations are continuing and will be enlarged to cover the activities of other traders, the report said.
10) Headed by board member Jean-Martin Folz, former CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroen, the committee of three independent directors is being helped by more than 40 bank inspectors and auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to examine the causes and sizes of the trading losses and look into whether the bank accurately communicated information about the scandal.
11) The committee said it is declining to make any conclusions about any responsibility of Kerviel's superiors at this stage. It said it plans to deliver a full report before the bank's shareholders meeting May 27.
12) The case is also being investigated by the France's market authority, its banking commission and a French court.
13) Several weaknesses in Societe Generale's procedures have been identified, and correcting them right requires tightening computer security, reinforcing controls and taking more account of the possibility of fraud, the committee said.



(APW_ENG_20080313.0711)
1) Ld-Writethru,0132
2) URGENT
3) Societe Generale employee who worked with suspected trader freed after questioning
4) Eds: APNewsNow. UPDATES with trader released.
5) By INGRID ROUSSEAU
6) Associated Press Writer
7) PARIS (AP) -- A Societe Generale employee held for questioning in a probe into massive losses previously blamed on a lone trader has been released without charge.
8) Judicial officials said the employee of the French bank was freed Thursday. The employee was detained when investigators searched the bank's office's Wednesday.
9) Investigators are trying to determine whether trader Jerome Kerviel had any accomplices when he made unauthorized trades that led to billions of euros in losses.


Societe Generale trader questioned alongside bosses in trading probe
(APW_ENG_20080313.1408)
1) French judges are questioning Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel alongside his former bosses about massive trading losses the bank blames on him.
2) Judicial officials say the questioning was taking place in the offices of investigating judges who are probing the case. The judges are trying to determine whether Kerviel acted alone in making unauthorized trades that the bank says cost it billions of euros.


Lawyers for trader allegedly behind huge loss at Societe Generale protest his firing
(APW_ENG_20080403.0387)
1) Lawyers for a former Societe Generale trader blamed for billions of euros (dollars) in losses have sent a letter to the French bank protesting the conditions of his dismissal.
2) Jerome Kerviel was released last month from provisional detention in prison pending the investigation into nearly euro5 billion (US$7.8 billion) in trading losses at the bank.
3) Kerviel's spokesman Christophe Reille says his lawyers are arguing that the bank violated French employment law -- such as by not giving him a face-to-face meeting to explain the firing.
4) Reille says the defense team has not decided whether to launch court proceedings.
5) The Times of London reports Thursday that Kerviel is to sue his former employers. The newspaper cites a source in Paris that it did not identify.


Swiss stock exchange fines Societe Generale for trading breach
(APW_ENG_20080502.0433)
1) The Swiss stock exchange said Friday it has fined French bank Societe Generale for violating trading rules two years ago.
2) The Zurich-based exchange -- known as SWX -- said it imposed a 30,000 Swiss francs (US$28,600; euro18,400) fine on Societe Generale for allowing four authorized traders to make transactions under other people's names. A fifth person, who was not authorized to trade on the SWX, also carried out transactions, it said.
3) "This has happened before with other banks," SWX spokesman Werner Vogt said.
4) The French bank hit the headlines earlier this year after it become embroiled in one of the largest securities scandals in history.
5) One of the bank's former employees, Jerome Kerviel, faces charges ranging from forgery to unauthorized computer use linked to a multibillion euro (dollar) trading loss.
6) "This story has nothing to do with Kerviel," Vogt said.
7) He said Societe Generale was warned about the rule breach at the time, but failed to act on the reprimand.
8) "That tends to increase the fine," Vogt said.
9) Societe Generale has also been ordered to pay 10,000 francs (US$9,540; euro6,140) in costs.
10) The maximum fine possible for trading breaches on the SWX is 200,000 francs (US$190,820; euro122,790) or a suspension of the trader's license.
11) Societe Generale spokeswoman Laura Schalk said the bank is cooperating with the SWX exchange and has implemented the measures required of it.


Societe Generale investigators suspect Kerviel got help in trades behind huge bank loss
(APW_ENG_20080523.1109)
1) Investigators at Societe Generale SA say they suspect former futures trader Jerome Kerviel was helped by an assistant to cover up massive trading positions that led to a multibillion euro (dollar) loss.
2) They say the French bank's management failures and culture of risk-taking were partly to blame for failing to spot the positions, which when they were unwound let to an almost euro5 billion (over US$7 billion) loss.
3) Investigators didn't find any signs of embezzlement by Kerviel but say that he had sought to boost his results -- and thus increase the amount of bonus he could hope for.
4) The findings came in two internal reports that the bank made public Friday -- one led by a committee of independent directors, the other by audit firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers.


Societe Generale chief at shareholders meeting defends bank ' s actions in dealing with fraud
(APW_ENG_20080527.1191)
1) Societe Generale SA chiefs faced boos and jeers at a shareholders meeting Tuesday while defending the French bank's response to one of the world's largest trading scandals, which caused a massive loss.
2) Chairman Daniel Bouton insisted the alleged fraud that the bank has blamed on former trader Jerome Kerviel was an "isolated" event -- and does not reflect the heart of the bank's trading activities.
3) "All the investigations have shown that the positions of the trader from which the losses stem were concealed," he told more than 1,600 shareholders at the annual meeting near the bank's headquarters in Paris' business district.
4) "Our control systems didn't allow us to detect his techniques of concealment before January," Bouton added, referring to the month when the scandal broke.
5) In two long-awaited reports released last week, investigators said management failures and a culture of risk-taking were partly to blame for the failure to spot Kerviel's positions, which led to a loss of almost euro5 billion (more than US$7 billion) once they were unwound.
6) The reports detailed a scandal that has sullied the reputation of the glamorous trading desk at the award-winning bank. They said Kerviel's bosses missed more than 1,000 faked trades, a huge jump in his earnings in 2007; questions about his trades from the Eurex exchange; unusually high levels of cash flow, accounting anomalies, and high brokerage expenses; Kerviel's failure to take vacation; and his breach of the desk's market risk limit on one position.
7) "Who do you take us for?" asked one angry shareholder, who was not introduced by name. "You were warned several times. You would have been able to stop him if you had wanted to or if you had the right controls."
8) Another shareholder called for Bouton to resign. Yet another said he had read the investigative reports with disbelief, and called them "damning."
9) Despite their criticism, shareholders approved all the measures submitted by the board, including the renewal of two directors' mandates.
10) Societe Generale shares have lost 10.2 percent since Jan. 23 -- the day before SocGen revealed the alleged fraud.
11) Bouton said the decline was also linked to the crisis in financial markets which has hit financial stocks around the world. On Tuesday, the shares fell 0.37 percent to close at euro66.45 ($104.73) in Paris trading.
12) Seven SocGen employees, including Kerviel, have left as a result of the affair, Bouton said. Five were fired, and the head of derivatives and the head of trading resigned.
13) Bouton stepped down as CEO earlier this month, handing over the daily running of the bank to Frederic Oudea. The change at the top came after the successful completion of a euro5.5 billion ($8.73 billion) capital hike.
14) Oudea, the former finance chief, backed Bouton's version of what he called a "totally exceptional" event.
15) Several SocGen employees and shareholders said they don't expect the head of corporate and investment banking, Jean-Pierre Mustier, to remain much longer at the bank.
16) "I think he has to go," said Jean-Marc Croisy, who retired from the investment banking division in 2006. "It was his department. He was responsible."
17) Kerviel's lawyer, Guillaume Selnet, said the trader's bosses had known what he was up to, but chose to look the other way while he was making money for the bank.
18) "It's more than negligence," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a business model that is at stake."
19) Undetected by multilayered security systems at the bank, Kerviel, a 31-year old junior trader, had for more than two years been fraudulently using company funds to bet on European stock markets.
20) It took three days for the bank -- France's second-largest -- to unload his positions just as stock exchanges were plunging amid some of the blackest days in the market since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
21) Kerviel was involved in what the bank calls "plain vanilla," or the more basic forms of hedging, with limited authority. He took home a salary and bonus of less than euro100,000, or about US$155,700 -- relatively modest in the financial world.
22) The case is also being investigated by France's market authority, the country's banking commission and a French court.


French banking watchdog fines Societe Generale for failing to spot unauthorized trades
(APW_ENG_20080704.1019)
1) France's central bank has fined Societe Generale euro4 million (US$6.3 million) for "serious shortcomings" in its internal controls that led to nearly euro5 billion (US$7.8 billion) in trading losses announced earlier this year.
2) The Bank of France's banking commission has also issued a formal warning to SocGen, one of France's biggest banks. The warning says shortcomings in "hierarchical controls" over an extended period in 2007 fueled the problem.
3) Societe Generale officials in Paris declined to comment on the decision. It was announced Friday on the Bank of France Web site.
4) The bank accuses trader Jerome Kerviel of massive unauthorized trades that led to the losses. Kerviel's lawyer says his superiors were aware of his activities.


Kerviel ' s lawyer minimizes assistant ' s role
(APW_ENG_20080903.1037)
1) The one-time assistant to former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel shouldn't face charges in the multibillion-euro trading scandal at the French bank, one of Kerviel's lawyers said Wednesday.
2) Investigators questioned both Kerviel, 31, and his 24-year-old former assistant, Thomas Mougard, in a closed-door session Wednesday.
3) Mougard is being probed on suspicion that he knowingly helped enter phony data into a computer system on behalf of Kerviel, who was trying to cover up massive trades, a French judicial official has said.
4) Mougard "did what Jerome Kerviel asked him to do," said Bernard Benaiem, one of Kerviel's lawyers. "He's an assistant. We're not going to blame a secretary for typing what the boss asks her to type; we don't blame an assistant for doing what a trader asks him to do."
5) Societe Generale has accused Kerviel of betting tens of billions of euros of the bank's money without permission, which led to almost euro5 billion (more than US$7 billion) in losses once the bank unwound his positions in January. Kerviel faces preliminary charges for forgery, breach of trust and logging false data, while Mougard faces preliminary charges for complicity in entering phony data.
6) Preliminary charges give judges time to pursue an investigation that could result in a trial or in charges being dropped.
7) Kerviel's legal team has insisted his superiors were aware of what he was doing and did not stop him as long as he made money for the bank -- charges that the bank has always denied.
8) The affair, one of history's costliest trading scandals, rattled an already shaky banking sector earlier this year and prompted widespread calls for tighter internal controls at banks.


SocGen: ' Well-armed ' to face financial crisis
(APW_ENG_20080925.0392)
1) French bank Societe Generale SA, recovering from a multibillion-dollar trading scandal, argued Thursday that it is still strong enough to survive the current turmoil in financial markets.
2) SocGen announced in January it had taken a euro4.9 billion ($7 billion) hit while closing what it calls unauthorized positions by former trader Jerome Kerviel. The loss was included in the bank's 2007 results.
3) The French bank has also been dealing with the contagion from risky U.S. mortgages that has hit financial markets. In the past weeks meltdown among some of the most storied names on Wall Street has caused the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and forced the U.S. government to prepare a $700 billion bailout of the industry.
4) "Societe Generale has demonstrated over the last months our capacity to bounce back and move forward in a very harsh environment and we consider this is mainly due to strong assets of the company," Deputy CEO Severin Cabannes told journalists in Villiers Le Mahieu, near Paris.
5) Cabannes didn't refer to Kerviel by name during the opening remarks of daylong series of presentations, saying only that the bank has strengthened its risk management systems "after what we had to manage at the beginning of this year."
6) Kerviel's legal team has insisted his higher-ups were aware of what he was doing and did not stop him as long as he made money for the bank -- charges the bank has always denied.
7) The bank was forced to take a euro5.5 billion (US$8.5 billion) capital increase earlier this year to raise funds to cover the trading losses, which Cabannes says gives SocGen "financial solidity," one of the assets that would help it weather the global crisis.
8) He also cited the "solidarity and loyalty" of SocGen's 151,000 staff, the loyalty of the bank's customer base and a "continuing and very clear strategy."
9) In August, SocGen reported a 63 percent fall in net profit in the second quarter after a loss in its investment banking unit.


French trader to be held additional day
(APW_ENG_20081030.1249)
1) A trader suspected of losing more than 600 million euros ($751.5 million) in complex derivative trades at French mutual bank Caisse d'Epargne is to be held 24 additional hours, a judicial official said on Thursday.
2) Investigators with a specialized financial brigade are interrogating the man, whose name has not been released, the official said. The trader is expected to be brought before a judge later Thursday or early Friday.
3) The official was speaking on condition of anonymity, in accordance with judicial policy. The trader was initially taken in for questioning on Wednesday morning and ordered to be held for 24 hours.
4) Caisse d'Epargne's top three executives quit after the losses became known on Oct. 17.
5) A Caisse d'Epargne spokesman has said the bank now calculates the loss was larger than the 600 million euros ($751.5 million) it initially announced. The spokesman declined to provide a new estimate, although the prosecutor's office has mentioned the loss would amount to 751 million euros ($940 million).
6) Paris prosecutors are investigating whether there are grounds for a possible legal case of breach of trust.
7) French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said last week that an initial investigation discovered "serious holes" in the bank's system of controls.
8) Citing a preliminary report by France's banking commission, she said the losses came in complex trades far removed from the bank's core business.
9) The bank's own internal investigation found a large number of breakdowns in internal controls and said alerts had been disregarded, French news magazine Nouvel Observateur reported on its Web site Wednesday, citing a copy of the investigator's report that the magazine said it had obtained.
10) The losses drew comparisons with the much larger trading scandal suffered by another French bank, Societe Generale, earlier this year. Societe Generale took a 4.9 billion euro ($7 billion) hit closing what it says were unauthorized positions by former trader Jerome Kerviel.


Lawyers hail ruling in SocGen trader case
(APW_ENG_20090901.1022)
1) Defense lawyers say France's top court has agreed to hear an appeal from former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel before he can stand trial for alleged wrongdoing behind huge bank losses.
2) The lawyers said Tuesday that the Court of Cassation will hear their appeal for alleged "excess of power" by investigating judges. The defense insists magistrates relied too heavily on evidence provided by the bank.
3) The magistrates sent their case Monday to a Paris court, and a trial is expected in 2010.
4) Societe Generale said in January 2008 it lost nearly ⁈ion ($7.4 billion at the time) cleaning up what it said were unauthorized positions held by Kerviel.
5) The case exposed a culture of risk-taking blamed for feeding the financial crisis.


Societe Generale says Greek exposure is $3.9B
(APW_ENG_20100505.0372)
1) French bank Societe Generale SA said Wednesday its exposure to Greece's government debt is (EURO)3 billion ($3.93 billion) and it has tightened credit at its Greek unit in response to the financial crisis there.
2) The bank based in Paris said in a statement that the financial crisis had hurt the performance of its majority-owned Geniki Bank Greek subsidiary in the first quarter, and that it was tightening loan approval conditions there among other precautionary measures.
3) Societe Generale disclosed the Greek exposure alongside its first quarter earnings report which showed it made a net profit of (EURO)1.06 billion ($1.39 billion) in the period. That compared to a (EURO)278 million loss in the year-earlier quarter, when the bank's earnings were hammered by nearly (EURO)2 billion in writedowns and provisions on the devalued assets linked to U.S. real estate.
4) The bank warned that "the pick-up in activity in developed European countries is much less pronounced than in the other areas of the world," and said European governments' efforts to reduce public deficits and debt is likely to weigh on the zone's near-term economic prospects.
5) Societe Generale owns 54 percent of Athens' based Geniki Bank, which it bought in 2004. The Greek financial crisis that has spilled over into other parts of Europe "had a considerable impact" on the bank's performance in the first quarter, Societe Generale said.
6) "In light of this situation, the group has implemented a number of precautionary measures, in particular tightening its loan approval conditions and cutting costs," Societe Generale said.
7) Higher risk provisions due to the Greek crisis helped push earnings in Societe Generale's international retail banking division down 5.8 percent in the first quarter.
8) Corporate and investment banking, the largest contributor to Societe Generale's revenue and profit, benefited from a gradual return to pre-crisis market conditions, the bank said. The division posted net profit of (EURO)541 million in the quarter, compared to a (EURO)171 million loss in the year earlier period. Revenue rose 74 percent to (EURO)2.1 billion.
9) Societe Generale reconfirmed its aim to improve earnings this year, after 2009 earnings were slashed to (EURO)678 million from (EURO)2.01 billion in 2008, a year when governments pumped billions into banks to prevent further meltdown after some of Wall Street's most storied names collapsed.
10) Societe Generale slowly has been recovering from a trading scandal in 2008 that saw it lose billions of euros.
11) SocGen announced in January 2008 that it lost nearly (EURO)5 billion (more than $7 billion) unwinding what it said were unauthorized positions held be a single trader, Jerome Kerviel. The affair rattled an already uneasy banking sector and prompted widespread calls for tighter internal controls at banks.
12) Kerviel goes on trial next month, charged with forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer use. The former trader's legal team has insisted his higher-ups were aware of what he was doing and did not stop him as long as he made money for the bank -- charges the bank has always denied.


SocGen CEO says Kerviel affair in the past
(APW_ENG_20100615.0267)
1) The head of Societe Generale says the massive trading loss that rocked the French bank in 2008 is in the past.
2) CEO Frederic Oudea, who was chief financial officer when SocGen announced a (EURO)5 billion ($6.12 billion) trading loss made unwinding the bets of former trader Jerome Kerviel, is unveiling a five-year plan to restore investor confidence.
3) The bank said Tuesday that it wants to continue reducing its risk profile with "a constant and reinforced vigilance."
4) Kerviel is currently on trial on a series of charges.
5) The Kerviel affair prompted widespread calls for tighter internal controls at banks, which Oudea said SocGen put in place at the time.
6) The global financial crisis has prompted more far-reaching reforms, Oudea said.


French trader gets 3 years in jail, must pay $6.7B
(APW_ENG_20101005.0223)
1) A Paris court has convicted former trader Jerome Kerviel guilty of all charges in one of history's biggest trading frauds, sentencing him to three years in prison and ordering him to repay Societe Generale SA the staggering (EURO)4.9 billion ($6.72 billion) that the bank lost.
2) The 33-year-old former index futures trader stood expressionless as the court pronounced a five-year sentence on Tuesday -- with two years suspended.
3) Kerviel was found guilty on charges of forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer use for covering up bets worth nearly (EURO)50 billion between late 2007 and early 2008.
4) He maintained throughout the trial in June that the bank tolerated his massive risk-taking as long as it made money.