Paris

Rogue trader convicted: French stock trader Jérôme Kerviel was sentenced to three years in jail this week and ordered to pay $7 billion in damages—roughly the amount lost by his former employer, Société Générale, as a result of his actions. Kerviel’s wild stock bets brought Société Générale, one of France’s largest investment banks, to the brink of collapse in 2008. “By his deliberate actions, he put in peril the existence of the bank that employed 140,000 people,” Judge Dominique Pauthe said. Kerviel, who made no money personally from his deals, claimed that the bank had known he was exceeding his trading limits but looked the other way as long as he produced profits. He said he would appeal the damage award.

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