The fall guy is fighting back. He says it is not his fault that SocGen lost billions.

Jérôme Kerviel, the trader accused of fake transactions costing Société Générale billions of euros, insisted on Tuesday he would not be used as a “scapegoat” by the bank. In his first public comments since the scandal broke, Mr Kerviel told Agence France Presse he recognised his “share of the responsibility”, but he would not take all the blame.

”I was designated [as being solely responsible] by Société Générale. I accept my share of responsibility but I will not be made a scapegoat for Société Générale,” the 31-year-old former bank employee said in an interview at his lawyer’s office in Paris. Mr Kerviel’s first public intervention came a day after he was questioned by two investigating magistrates who are examining the case. Judges Renaud van Ruymbeke and Françoise Desset grilled Mr Kerviel for eight hours on Monday, AFP reported.