President Sarkozy has made a scathing attack on Daniel Bouton, accusing the embattled chairman and chief executive of Société Générale of failing to take full responsibility for the €4.9 billion (£3.6 billion) loss made by Jérôme Kerviel, the French bank's rogue trader.

Mr Sarkozy told Le Parisien: “I just don't understand the Société Générale situation. When the chairman of a company experiences a disaster of this magnitude and he does not assume the consequences of this, that is not normal.

“For someone to make €7 million a year does not shock me. But on one condition - that he assumes his responsibilities. That's what the problem is with Daniel Bouton.

“I've got nothing against him. But you can't say ‘I'm going to be paid €7 million a year' and then, when there's a problem, say ‘It's not me'. That I cannot accept.”

Rogue traders' profit boosted SocGen bonuses

Jerome Kerviel's lawyer claims executives at the French bank benefited from the successful investments of the rogue trader

• SocGen rights issue will be at a 39% discount

• SocGen trader remanded in custody after court hearing

Multimedia

• Full coverage of the SocGen scandal

• Blog: Charles Bremner on SocGen

• Video: Patrick Hosking on the impact of fraud

Background

• Who Knew What and When?

• SocGen director probed over €100m share sale

• Ex-SocGen risk auditor calls systems a sham

Related Links

• 'Bring me the head of Daniel Bouton'

• SocGen seeks alliance with French post office

Mr Sarkozy has been a critic of Mr Bouton since the rogue-trading scandal broke, joining Christine Lagarde, the French Finance Minister, in calling for a change at the top of the bank.However, she said yesterday that it was up to SocGen's board to decide the fate of its senior managers.

A spokeswoman for SocGen said that it had no comment to make on the comments by Mr Sarkozy, which came after Mr Bouton's withdrawal this week of his offer to resign from France's second-largest bank, when he pledged: “I stay, I am the pilot, I drive on.” Mr Bouton, nicknamed “Two Brains”, has twice offered to resign from SocGen, but had been turned down by the board.

Mr Bouton's sudden change of tack, including the withdrawal of his resignation offer, which had remained on the table since late January, when the trading scandal emerged, is seen by some as an attempt to frustrate a merger of SocGen and BNP Paribas.

Mr Bouton is a staunch defender of SocGen's independence and he is believed to have a volatile relationship with Michel Pébereau, the chairman of BNP, after previous attempts to merge the two banks.

A merger could cause a headache for Mr Sarkozy, especially in dealing with the unions, because a tie-up would lead to job cuts in a country with strict employment laws.

Mr Kerviel, seen by some as a Robin Hood-type hero for the “rogue” trades that led to the huge loss, is in prison while being investigated for possible breach of trust, computer abuse and falsification.

Michael Sellam, the head of Iris Finance, a French fund management company, said that Mr Sarkozy's attack was ill-timed because SocGen is making a fully underwritten €5.5 billion rights issue to repair its finances. Mr Sellam said: “He has chosen the wrong moment to destabilise the management. On the contrary, one should join ranks around the management while the rights issue is under way.”

Les Echos reported that SocGen's fellow French bank Crédit Agricole was emerging as a possible ally for it against any attack from BNP Paribas.

SocGen's shares rose sharply yesterday after a report in Expansion that Spain could push for a Spanish takeover of the troubled French bank in exchange for a Crédit Agricole buyout of Bankinter, the Spanish bank.

The report suggested that the Bank of Spain could give Crédit Agricole the green light for an acquisition of Bankinter to pave the way for a takeover of SocGen by a Spanish bank.

Crédit Agricole last week received authorisation to raise its stake in Bankinter to 29.9 per cent, just below the 30per cent threshold at which it would be obliged to launch a full takeover bid for the Spanish bank.

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