GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The appeal of Jérôme Kerviel opened in Paris Monday 4 June. The ex-trader was sentenced in 2010 to three years in prison and two years probation for breach of trust after a euro 4.9 billion loss for his employer, Société Générale bank, in 2008. The loss was France’s largest such rogue trading deal. Kerviel’s first words to the court Monday were “I don’t consider myself responsible for this loss.” His argument is that he never did anything without his superiors being aware and that while there were trading limits no one enforced them and they were routinely ignored.
Kerviel’s fine, as part of the 2010 sentence, was euros 4.9 billion, the sum that the bank said it lost because of his actions.
