Employee shareholders at Societe Generale said yesterday they had started legal action following a multibillion-dollar rogue trader scandal at the French bank.
Employees and former employees, represented by the association ASSACT SG, form the bank's largest shareholder, holding around 10 percent of its capital and more than 10 percent of voting rights.
The association said it was "its duty to contribute to shedding light on the recent disappointment of which all Societe Generale shareholders are victim, notably employees and former employees."
"We are filing suit because we want to be kept informed of the affair's progress," said its head Patrice Leclerc, criticizing a "lack of transparency due to the fact Societe Generale staff are not represented on the board."
Leclerc stressed his association did not want to single out rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, who is being investigated over the losses of 4.8 billion euros (US$7.1 billion) announced by the bank last Thursday.
But he criticized the fact that around 50 people in the bank's investment division earned more than its chairman, Daniel Bouton.
"These excesses are no guarantee of good management and our members want reason to prevail," he said.
Already, three groups of Societe Generale minority shareholders have filed suit alleging insider trading and manipulation of share prices in relation to two major share sales this month by Societe Generale board member Robert Day.
The French financial regulator AMF said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation into share sales in the days before the rogue trade scandal emerged.
Bouton also faced increasing pressure from French officials to answer for the rogue trader disaster ahead a meeting yesterday of its board of directors.
As questions multiplied over Societe Generale's failure to prevent the disaster, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde stressed on Tuesday it was "up to board members" to decide on Bouton's future.
"Societe Generale is in crisis," she said, adding that "the board members are there to decide whether or not the person in charge is the best one to steer the ship or if a change of captain is needed."
The head of the French Senate finance committee, Jean Arthuis, went further: "I don't think Bouton has any choice but to leave."
Societe Generale's board turned down the 57-year-old Bouton's offer of resignation last week, after the colossal losses were announced, asking him to steer the bank through the crisis.
One of the best paid French executives, with a salary of 3.3 million euros in 2006, Bouton said he would forego six months' pay and reaffirmed on Monday that his offer to resign was still on the table.
But as the French government stepped in to warn market predators away from the crisis-hit bank, seen increasingly as a takeover target, the decision to keep Bouton in place came under scrutiny.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS