The registered office of the Company general Defence. – ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP

justice has always been a question of balance. And for the Société Générale, it has changed radically in meaning, this Friday, with the judgment rendered by the court of appeal in Versailles (Yvelines) in the folder Kerviel. Then she wanted to benefit of 4.9 billion euros in damages and interest, the bank may, conversely, be forced to repay more than two billion euros in taxes to the State.

>> facts: Jerome Kerviel held “partially responsible”

The Versailles appeal court has, in effect, held Jérôme Kerviel “partially responsible” for the fraud that bears his name since 2008. The other “responsible party” is nothing other than the Société Générale itself. Black and white, in their judgment, the magistrates pointed to the “deficient organization” and “the accumulation of breaches in security and risk monitoring” of the bank.

Preview of the arrêt of the Court of  appeal of Versailles.
Extract from the judgment of the Court of appeal of Versailles. – Court of appeal of Versailles

The bank has said it committed a fault ?

the decision of The Versailles court of appeal changes everything. In order to understand it we must go back to the beginning of the year 2008 as the “deal” had just burst. Based on the existing legislation relating to fraud, Société Générale has benefited, at that time, a rebate tax 2,197 billion euros in taxes, or a little more than one-third of the loss it believes it has suffered. Everything is legal in this operation.

>> Story: “tonight, we’ll be heroes or unwanted dogs…”

Except that to have such a gift for tax purposes, the legislation stipulates that the bank should not have committed mistakes. The court of appeal of Versailles ruled, Friday, that this was not the case. And arises now the question of whether the bank will have to refund to the State 2,197 billion euros of taxes.

Kerviel, ” purveyor of public money “

Interested by this question of long standing, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (PG), Eva Joly (EELV) or even Thierry Solère (LR) do not have to wait long before you seek the services of Bercy to claim accounts at the bank. Well assisted in this by the lawyers of Jerome Kerviel who believe that their client is today the largest provider of public money in France “.

not surprisingly, Jean Veil, the lawyer of the Company General has a completely different analysis of the problem. For there to be a refund, ” it would require a deliberate mistake, a fault, excess of the [bank] and it is not what is written in the judgment of the court of appeal of Versailles. “The Société Générale has also quickly released a statement indicating that the decision was a “no effect” on his tax situation.

Michel Sapin wants to defend the ” interests of the State “

This is probably not up to the individual to decide. Travelers to Berlin (Germany), Michel Sapin, the minister of Economy and Finance said ” have asked the tax administration to examine the consequences of this judgment on the tax situation of the Society in General (…) and to preserve fully the interests of the State. “

The services of Bercy will probably not take long to find. According to our information, the Direction of the audits of national and international (DVNI) of Bercy has carried out an “expertise” in this matter as early as 2012. The answer as Michel Sapin is probably in a report that it is sufficient to search the archives of his ministry…

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