Hmmmm....For a bank as large as Societe Generale, you would think they have their own internal audit and control department that prevent things like this from happening.
so what does this mean a 7 billion dollar fine on Kerviel. Does it mean that every dollar he earns going forward goes towards paying the fine? Or, can he declare a personal bankruptcy and start his life afresh after serving 3 yrs in prison.
This guy has to pay back 7 billion and serve 3 years in prison for trading fraud but the Feds are only going after Bank of America for 1 billion for mortgage fraud. And you know nobody is gonna go to jail at B of A, just doesn't make sense.
From the article, it says he will have to "pay back about $7 billion in damages". I don't know the ins and outs of the French legal system, but the article reads like it's not a fine as such (payed from the guilty to the gov't), but a civil judgement (payed by the guilty to the wronged party). Granted they have a better headline than "Massively rich bank awarded $7 Billion from patsy who will never be able to pay".
Well, that's an appeal from the first judgment, hence time passed since the events. Kerviel is still free btw, and he will go to cassation next (another court in french judiciary system). As of the fine, in France it can also be awarded by the criminal court, which was the case for Kerviel. I should look more precisely into the results of this judgment, but it's supposedly owed to Societe Generale, and after the first judgment Kerviel was also sentenced to pay a similar amount, but Societe generale said it would give up its claims to this money. As of the mention of BoA and the american justice system, it's actually much tougher than the french system. In France, the worst sentence for white collar crime is 5 year afaik, plus one has often the possibility to remain free until he has exhausted appeal opportunities, which might take years, as is the case for Kerviel.