Famed “rogue trader” Jérôme Kerviel has finally broken his silence, letting loose to Agence France Presse just as his alma mater, Société Générale, takes an equally defensive stance against foreign takeovers. Whether you see Kerviel as likely to be parroting his lawyers at this point or a veritable fall guy, these remarks are a must-read for anyone curious about what really happened – and what possesses a trader to literally break the bank on his wild and wooly bets.

Jérôme Kerviel, the trader accused of fake transactions costing Société Générale billions of euros, on Tuesday broke his silence to insist he would not be used as a “scapegoat”. In his first public comments in nearly two weeks, Mr Kerviel told Agence France Presse he had been “singled out” by the bank. “I am taking my share of responsibility, but I will not be the scapegoat…”, he said. Insisting he was “neither suicidal nor depressed’’, he said he “never had any personal ambition in this affair”. “The aim was to earn money for the bank…You lose your sense of the sums involved when you are in this kind of work…You get a bit carried away.” Meanwhile, SocGen’s board is expected to meet Wednesday night to discuss the conditions for its €5.5bn ($8bn) rescue fundraising, which could be launched as soon as Friday or next week - depending on market volatility. A formal launch early next week would allow for a two-week marketing period ahead of SocGen’s annual results Feb 21.

(Continue reading on The Financial Times)

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