Archives: February 1-5, 2008

Lagarde Report “inadeqaute”
FrenchPolitics. Feb. 5, 2008
Professor Goldhammer judges the Lagarde Report on the SocGen affair (which can be downloaded in PDF format here), to be sadly wanting. “The inadequacy of this report is glaring and no doubt will add to Sarkozy's list of grievances against finance minister Christine Lagarde.
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Societe Generale on trial in French-Israel scam
AFP. Feb. 5, 2008
Embattled French bank Societe Generale faces fresh troubles as a trial opens in Paris involving a vast money laundering scam between France and Israel. Four banks, including Societe Generale, and 138 people, including the bank's chairman Daniel Bouton, six rabbis, a former French prosecutor, are on trial over the multi-million dollar scam in which cheques trafficked from France were allegedly cleared in money exchange offices or banks in Israel, then repatriated to French banks.
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Sarkozy’s popularity hits new low
ZeeNews. Feb. 5, 2008
President Sarkozy's popularity has plunged in a new poll which some leaders have blamed on the president's private life. The LH2 poll released on Feb. 3 for Liberation newspaper said 55 per cent of those surveyed had a negative opinion of Sarkozy. Just 41 percent had a favourable view, a 13 percentage point drop from a month ago.
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French Pan Sarkozy’s Governance
Angus Reid. Feb. 5, 2008
Most people in France are disappointed with the way Nicolas Sarkozy is running the country, according to a poll by CSA published in Valeurs Actuelles. Only 37 per cent of respondents think Sarkozy is taking France in the right direction, down 13 points since November. Conversely, 49 per cent of respondents have a positive assessment of the actions of French prime minister François Fillon, virtually unchanged for the past three months.
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What the SocGen Mess Means for Your Company
Businessweek. Feb. 5, 2006
The trading scandal in which Jerome Kerviel lost $7 billion for the French bank Societe Generale raises all kinds of questions about management's responsibility for employees' actions for creating a culture that may encourage bad behavior. It is becoming clear that there were some serious issues with the bank's management procedures.
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France's role in Chad rebellion
ChristianScienceMonitor. Feb. 5, 2008
Unlike previous rebellions where Chad's former colonial ruler, France, came to the government's rescue, this coup attempt will be left to take its own course. France's major turnabout reflects both the hands-off philosophy of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and France's desire to lead a new European Union humanitarian peacekeeping force of troops of 3,700 men (2,100 of them French soldiers) to protect aid convoys to the nearly 400,000 refugees from Darfur and Chad living in Chad.
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French morale is in the pitts
Telegraph. Feb. 4, 2008
French morale is at its lowest ebb in two decades, according to new research. Government figures show the "morale of French households" is at its gloomiest - minus 34 points - since the study began in 1987. The real reasons are to be found deep in the French psyche, according to Gerard Mermet, a sociologist who publishes a highly respected study on the national state of mind every two years. "Collective pessimism is engraved in French culture. We are regularly found to be the most pessimistic nation in Europe", he says.
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Sarkozy hits all-time low in opinion polls
Expatica. Feb. 4, 2008
A new poll on Jan. 30, 2008 showed French President Sarkozy's approval rating down to 41 percent, its lowest level since he took office eight months ago. The TNS-Sofres poll showed 55 percent of respondents say they do not trust the French president, who took office on a promise to bring in sweeping
reforms.
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Sarkozy and Bruni marry in Paris
BBC. Feb. 3, 2008
Third time lucky? Twice married French President Sarkozy, 53, wed his girlfriend, former model-turned-singer Carla Bruni, 40, in a Paris civil ceremony on Feb. 2, 2008, an official statement said. Francois Lebel, the mayor who performed the ceremony “in strictest privacy,” told French Europe-1 radio that the bride wore white and looked "ravishing, as usual". The couple reportedly met in November 2007, soon after Sarkozy's divorce from his second wife, and have carried on a controversial public romance in France and abroad.
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Sarkozy and Kerviel chase a French-American dream
FinancialTimes. Feb. 3, 2008
This week has been a bonfire of French vanities. The Société Générale scandal has left the credibility of one of France's most respected banks and the French capitalist system in ashes. For all the fear and loathing of capitalism in France and its criticisms of the US system, the country is not only becoming more American but has always embraced the American dream. But now the experiment has been temporarily sabotaged by a young Masters of the Universe.
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Rogue trader becomes French anti-hero
UKTelegraph. Feb. 3, 2008
The French have rallied behind the rogue trader who admitted losing his bank £3.7bn in illicit bets. He may face charges for forgery, computer hacking and breach of trust, but only 13pc of French people think 31-year old trader Jérôme Kerviel should take the flak for the world’s worst trading disaster. Some 50pc blamed SocGen management while 27pc feel the buck should stop at France’s market regulator, AMF.
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Kouchner Profile: France's foreign minister without borders
IHT. Feb. 3, 2008
Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France, has urged his country's ambassadors to engage in "diplomacy in motion." Kouchner - who established the organization Médecins Sans Frontières 37 years ago, has often ranked in polls as the most popular politician in France. He is, in demographic terms, what the French call "gauche caviar" - an upper-bourgeois leftist. He has written a dozen or so books; and once contemplated running for president of France. One journalist travels to Pakistan with the minister.
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French arms market report
Armsflow. Feb. 3, 2008
Armsflow.org is a data visualization project that shows international arms transactions between 1950 and 2006. The maps on the site are based on data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Click to view a map which shows where French weaponry was sold in 2006. (HT: Frogsmoke)
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SocGen takeover rumors
TimeMagazine. Feb. 2, 2008
Speculation is rife in France that the board of directors at scandal-rocked Société Générale decided to retain embattled CEO Daniel Bouton only to allow him to prepare the bank for acquisition by a hostile rival. BNP, France's largest bank by capitalization, and in a strong position with announced 2007 profits of over $11 billion, confirmed on Jan. 31 that it was considering, "a run at Société Générale" — though just "like all of Europe".
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Sarkozy sues Ryanair over advert
BBC. Feb. 2, 2008
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend Carla Bruni are suing low-cost airline Ryanair over a picture of the couple it used in an advert. The photo shows a thought bubble coming from Ms Bruni, saying: "With Ryanair, all my family can attend my wedding." The former model is seeking 500,000 euros ($743,000; £373,000) - the amount she says her photo normally costs. Sarkozy is seeking a symbolic one euro in damages. Ryanair has apologised for using the couple's image without their consent, but insists it meant no offence.
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European Commission warns France over waste water treatment
Xinhua. Feb. 2, 2008
The European Commission is sending France a final warning, alerting the country to quickly bring its waste water treatment up to EU standards, the commission said Thursday. Otherwise, France will be taken to court to face the problem. France is still not complying with a 1991 EU directive on urban waste water treatment, despite having been condemned by the European Court of Justice for this in 2004.
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American bankers demands SocGen justice
WallStreetJournal. Feb. 2, 2008
American financiers say SocGen needs to pay for its follies, including replacing top management, because that's the way the market is supposed to work. The French government’s political meddling and “French-only” protectionism hurts shareholders and customers. “SocGen is more likely to survive and prosper beyond its current mess if Mr. Sarkozy and friends keep their hands off.”
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SocGen scandal reveals France’s financial schizophrenia
Economist. Feb. 2, 2008
By humiliating France’s second biggest bank, rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel “has over the course of one weekend become a modern hero,” according to the Nouvel Observateur. The SocGen drama encapsulates the contradictions of France's attitude to capitalism: on the one hand, there is widespread suspicion of the markets and fear of unchecked capitalism; on the other, world-class financial skills and a thriving business sector.
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SocGen excuses “unbelievable”
FrenchPolitics. Feb. 2, 2008
Several alerts were issued by Eurex to the Societe Generale bank as early as November of last year about Jerome Kerviel’s excessive futures trading. The bank has produced numerous excuses as to why the warnings went unheeded. Professor Goldhammer calls their defense “close to impossible to believe.” SocGen boss Daniel Bouton’s was the man in charge but “thus far his answers have been infuriatingly vague.”
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SocGen scandal: prosecution unlikely
FrenchPolitics. Feb. 1, 2008
Professor Goldhammer comments on the SocGen scandal: Jean-Michel Aldebert, the head of the financial section of the Paris prosecutor's office, said that "there will inevitably be questions to ask [SocGen head Daniel Bouton]" about fraudster Kerviel's charges that he did what he did with the tacit permission of his superiors. But, "there will most likely be no possibility of criminal prosecution for the insanity of the system.” And more: “The French financial press [coverage] … has been lamentable. If this had happened in the US, you can be sure that the Wall Street Journal would have been all over it.” As it is, the American financial media are using the scandal to critique the French system.
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Sarkozy pledges $2.4 billion for Alzheimer’s disease
WebinFrance. Feb. 1, 2008
Speaking in Nice on Friday, President Sarkozy unveiled a five-year plan to fight Alzheimer’s disease in France and around the world. Sarkozy said the 1.6-billion euro ($2.4-billion) plan, slated to take effect on Jan. 1, 2009, calls for the establishment of a new foundation for Alzheimer’s research that will pool scientific efforts of many researchers, scientists and doctors. Approximately 860,000 elderly people in France have Alzheimer’s disease.
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SocGen: Sarkozy seeks culprit, but boss stays
UKPress. Feb. 1, 2008
French bank Societe Generale will set up an independent committee to investigate the billions in trading losses blamed on a rogue trader, and the French Senate began their own hearings. The bank's board unanimously asked chief executive Daniel Bouton to continue in his job. Some bank employees staged a rally in support of Bouton, possibly motivated by fear of a merger with another bank such as BNP Paribas which would entail job losses. Other observers predicted Bouton would resign within months. President Sarkozy vowed to hold bank management accountable. Prime Minister Fillon said the government would block takeover bids, but EU internal markets commissioner cautioned France to treat potential bidders for Societe Generale equally and without regard to national interests.
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