Kerviel affair: the indictment restores responsibilities between the former trader and the bank – The World

Le Monde | 17/06/2016 at 18:05 • Updated 17/06/2016 at 18:50 | By Pascale Robert-Diard

Finally, because in a case that, for eight years, unleashed passions and fantasies . That moment has arrived, Friday, June 17, with the indictment issued by the Advocate General, Jean-Marie d’Huy, the trial on the civilian side of the Kerviel affair.

In an hour, Advocate General has restored each in its responsibilities. A Jérôme Kerviel, criminal misconduct, such as two successive courts have recognized: the former trader is definitely guilty of breach of trust, forgery and fraudulent use and introduction of computer data, which earned him a sentence of five years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended. At Societe Generale, civil fault: its “Default” repeated and control failures, it “undeniably made possible or facilitated the realization of the fraud and its development” and resulted in heavy financial consequences of that fraud.

as a result, for the Advocate General, “the fault of the General Society must be considered sufficient” for that it is as responsible for the entire loss of 4.9 billion euros. “Your decision could be a strong message given to banks to prevent future such incidents could recur” , he launched the court.

“the banks are not like other companies. They represent one of the most important instruments of the State for the implementation of economic and monetary policies. As a result, their decisions, their risk-taking must be continuously assessed, monitored and controlled. Financial crises, devastating for the economy, employment, society, have often revealed shortcomings in the evaluation and monitoring procedures, “ emphasized the Advocate General.

“a serious error”

in the case of Societe Generale, “senior bank” , continued the Advocate General, these failures “are not mere negligence but gross misconduct. Negligence which had become intentional, and their combination reflects a mode very distant security and prudential concerns. He settled a form not consent, but tolerance. Close your eyes and let, until everything goes well and that everyone has an interest. “

So, to Jean-Marie d’Huy, ” Societe Generale left, in full knowledge of the imperfections and faults of his organization and its internal control system, the field open to tort whims of Jerome Kerviel. This does not mean that the General Society can be considered as author or accomplice of crimes committed by Jerome Kerviel, but it means that the mistakes of the first made possible those of the second and aggravated the consequences. “

to list of these faults, the Advocate General was based on two reports which date from 2008, that of the Green Mission, the General inspectorate of the General Society, and that the banking Commission: failures in the supervision of the trader; deficient supervision; lack of responsiveness to warning signals; control procedures unsuitable for strong and rapid growth of activity desk that employed the trader and “ [having] allowed the concealment maneuvers not be detected.”

“It’s sort of the fault of Jerome Kerviel reveals that of Societe Generale, which already existed, was latent, invisible and permanent. Kerviel’s fault was revealing the fault of the bank, and the fault of the bank that has come true fault Kerviel “ observed Jean-Marie d’Huy.

a balanced reading of the case

This new outlook on the Kerviel affair was made possible by the reversal of case law of the Court of Cassation, which occurred in 2013. Applying in infringement relating to property case law applicable in matters affecting people, the judge must now evaluate the injury taking into account not only the fault of the perpetrator but also to those that can be alleged against his victim .

with this indictment that puts everyone in their place, the Advocate General gives a balanced reading of the Kerviel affair, which seemed to have definitively lost through successive procedures: he dismisses the media fog expertly maintained by former trader, who is as innocent – a “fool,” as the day before one of the witnesses called by the defense – manipulated unknowingly by the bank

It does not retain any materials developed by Jerome Kerviel and his lawyer, David Koubbi, on the assumption of a “ghost desk” a kind of invisible hand that would have exploited the trader to hide losses related to subprime mortgages. But also up and finally the bank meet its own responsibilities. There is a guilty, Jerome Kerviel, and responsible, Societe Generale. If it is shared by the Court of Appeal of Versailles, this reading could finally help alleviate a case that has lasted too long. The court put its deliberation September 23

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