For its first French documentary series, MAX returns to one of the most resounding financial affairs of recent decades with “Kerviel: a trader, 50 billion”, featuring the direct testimony of Jérôme Kerviel. What happened to the former Société Générale employee?
Nothing predestined him for such a journey. Son of a boilermaker and a hairdresser, Jérôme Kerviel grew up in the town of Pont-l'Abbé, in Finistère. He never imagined one day being a trader in the La Défense district, within one of the largest French banks.
Here he is today at the heart of the documentary series “Kerviel: a trader, 50 billion” – MAX’s first French documentary production – which returns to the affair which led to his conviction in 2015, to repay one million euros to Société Générale (after a sentence of three years in prison and 4.9 billion in damages at first instance), for having taken ultra-risky positions estimated at 50 billion dollars on the financial markets, causing a loss of almost 5 billion euros to the bank in 2008.
No fixed accommodation
What happens to him today? In 2016, it was the Versailles Court of Appeal which made the decision to reduce the amount that Jérôme Kerviel must reimburse his former employer, reducing the sum from 4.9 billion to one million euros. The former trader, now 47 years old, is prohibited from working in the world of finance, and according to testimonies contained in the documentary, would experience the worst difficulties in finding employment due to his surname.
He has no fixed accommodation or stable income, which avoids the seizure of sums in his account. “All his stuff fits in a bag. He seems to be hampered in his ability to build a future for himself,” explains Clémence, a friend. Jérôme Kerviel is still trying to get the case reopened in the hope of overturning the court decision by having Société Générale recognized as responsible.
A documentary series worthy of a thriller
Directed by Fred Garson, the documentary series “Kerviel: a trader, 50 billion” returns to the affair through four captivating episodes, which manage to reveal the behind the scenes at eye level, and above all to put to rest the fantasies that surrounds it, giving voice to its main actors: Jérôme Kerviel obviously, but also Daniel Bouton, former CEO of Société Générale, Luc François, the head of the trading room at the time, the former director of the bank's communications, former colleagues of the trader, or even the former President of the Republic, François Hollande.
Vincent Vantighem, a journalist specializing in the affair, is also present, as is Nathalie Roy, former commander of the financial brigade in charge of investigating the affair, and especially Philippe Houbé, who was responsible for keeping the accounts of the bank at the material time. According to him, “the legend that no one saw anything is impossible.” This corresponds to the line of defense of Jérôme Kerviel, who asserts that his superiors were aware of his actions and that they let him do so because of the colossal bonuses that the trader had allowed them to reap in the past.
It should also be noted that Société Générale had obtained a tax credit of 2.2 billion euros from Bercy to compensate for the loss after the fact. Dynamic and rhythmic, the documentary series “Kerviel: a trader, 50 billion” achieves the feat of presenting this complex and technical case without ever drowning in legal jargon. The quality of the speakers, as well as the comparison of each other's comments, allows viewers to better understand the issues, and to form their own opinion.
“Kerviel: a trader, 50 billion”, available on MAX.
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