Major French bank in "turmoil" following fraud

The International Herald Tribune ( NY Times owned) reports:

Societe Generale, one of the largest banks in Europe, was thrown into turmoil Thursday after it revealed that a rogue employee had executed a series of "elaborate, fictitious transactions" that cost the company more than $7 billion, the biggest loss ever recorded in the financial industry by a single trader.

Daniel Bouton, the Societe Generale chairman, said the employee, later identified by other bank employees as Jerome Kerviel, had confessed to the [euro] 4.9 billion fraud, although he did not appear to have profited personally from the trades.

The bank has started legal proceedings against the employee, whom the governor of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer, said was currently "on the run."…

The rest of the story is here.

Does anyone know whether former President Bill Clinton has agreed to pardon Kerviel?

Has Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign finance chairman been able to reach Ferviel or his lawyer?