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From Rogue Trader to Left-Wing Hero

SocGen worker defended by family, strangers, Communists

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 27, 2008 7:48 AM CST
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(Newser) – For a man who nearly sank one of the largest and most venerable banks in France, rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel has certainly won a lot of support, writes the Observer. In a country that remains weary of so-called "Anglo-Saxon" business models, the Société Générale banker now finds himself in the profoundly ironic position of anti-capitalist hero.

His family in Brittany has rallied behind him, with his mother-in-law insisting his alleged loss of over $7 billion proves he "stood up to the system." Others have gone further. The once vaunted, now diminished Communist Party has compared Kerviel to Alfred Dreyfus, the most famous scapegoat in French history. The mood is similar in the streets of Paris. "It is time the bosses and the rich were taken down a peg," said one trader.

Pedestrians walk past a branch office of French bank Societe Generale, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 in Paris. 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 whose scheme of fictitious transactions came undone...
Pedestrians walk past a branch office of French bank Societe Generale, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 in Paris. French bank Societe Generale said Thursday it has uncovered a euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion)...   (Associated Press)
This internal security file photo photo taken from French bank Societe Generale's Web site shows a man identified on the site as Jerome Kerviel. Societe Generale said Thursday Jan. 24, 2007 it has uncovered a 4.9 billion euro ($7.14 billion) fraud _ one of history's biggest _ by...
This internal security file photo photo taken from French bank Societe Generale's Web site shows a man identified on the site as Jerome Kerviel. Societe Generale said Thursday Jan. 24, 2007 it has uncovered...   (Associated Press)
People enter the headquarters building of French bank Societe Generale, Thursday Jan. 24, 2008, outside Paris. 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 whose scheme of fictitious transactions came undone when stock markets...
People enter the headquarters building of French bank Societe Generale, Thursday Jan. 24, 2008, outside Paris. Societe Generale said Thursday it has uncovered a euro4.9 billion (US$7.14 billion) fraud,...   (Associated Press)
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Genius or 'mediocre backroom boy'?
Reuters

Family urged Kerviel to quit his job
Telegraph (UK)

Money • World

 
France • bank fraud • Jérôme Kerviel • Société Générale

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