The Wall Street Job Report

The premise of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel’s appeal is not a traditional “I didn’t do it.”

Kerviel, who is charged with engineering a series of risky trades that caused Societe Generale to lose $4.9 bn euros in 2007, has not denied wrongdoing.

But he thinks his sentence is too harsh because his former employer knew perfectly well of his activities.

Kerviel was recently sentenced to three years in prison. Reuters reports on the following exchange during Kerviel’s testimony:

“Everyone did it…Everyone knew and saw what I was doing,” said Kerviel, who wore an open-necked light shirt and became increasingly animated during his testimony.

When asked who else at the bank could have taken a 5 billion-euro position, Kerviel replied: “Anyone.”

Ex-trader Kerviel says hiding bets easy at SocGen

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Beth Connolly is Editor-in-Chief of the Wall Street Job Report and the Compliance Exchange. She blogs creatively at When Nutmeg Met Basil. Connect with her on LinkedIn , Twitter, and About.Me.

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