Sarkozy hits out at bank chief

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a newspaper interview yesterday that it was "not normal" for the head of French bank Societe Generale to shirk his responsibility for SocGen's trading scandal.

"I just don't understand the Societe Generale situation. When the chairman of a company experiences a disaster of this magnitude and he does not assume the consequences of this, that is not normal," Sarkozy was quoted as saying in an interview with Le Parisien.

"For someone to make 7 million euros a year does not shock me. But on one condition - that he assumes his responsibilities. That's what the problem is with Daniel Bouton," added Sarkozy.

Sarkozy's criticism comes after SocGen Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Bouton said in an interview published in Monday's Les Echos newspaper that an earlier offer he had made to resign was "no longer on the table".

On Jan 24, SocGen unveiled 4.9 billion euros of losses which it blamed on rogue deals carried out by Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year old junior trader at the bank.

No link-up

The French government isn't working on any project to link Societe Generale SA with the country's post office bank, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in an interview with Les Echos.

"It's pure fantasy," she said. "I have given no-one at Bercy any mission for any such project." Bercy is the name given to the finance ministry's Paris headquarters.

A link between state-controlled Banque Postale and France's second-largest bank has been rumored since Societe Generale announced a month ago that it lost 4.9 billion euros through unauthorized trading.

Societe Generale Chairman Bouton, when he was asked about Banque Postale on a conference call with journalists last week, said he does not make comments on market rumors.

Agencies

(China Daily 02/27/2008 page17)