Jérôme Kerviel, the French trader who is accused of orchestrating a huge trading scandal at Société Générale, won a last-minute reprieve on Tuesday after an order sending him to trial was frozen by France’s highest appeals court.
French bank Société Générale said in January 2008 that it had lost 4.9 billion euros ($6.4 billion) after more than $70 billion in unauthorized bets were placed on derivatives just as the market turned.
The loss was more than double the lender’s 2008 net income, and pushed it to undertake a 5.5 billion euro rights offer to restore its capital. France’s Banking Commission fined the bank 4 million euros in July 2008 for internal control failures related to the loss.
Mr. Kerviel faces as much as five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros if found guilty of causing the losses.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Monday, 24 August 2009
French factory workers bare all to save jobs
Workers at a crisis-hit boiler factory in France have stripped off for a nude calendar in a bid to save 204 jobs slated for redundancy. Staff at the Chaffoteaux et Maury factory in Brittany will use the proceeds to fund a trip to Italy where they plan to stage a protest at their parent company, Ariston Thermo Group (ATG), which pulled the plug on the site earlier this year.
"Our aim is to show there are workers here who will do anything to save their jobs, even take their clothes off," said Brigitte Coadic, representative of the CGT union at the site and the woman behind the calendar, which is due out in the autumn.
The operation is the latest in a line of colorful protest stunts by French workers after "bossnappings," threats to blow up factories or pollute the Seine river, as well as the traditional dumping of agricultural produce by angry farmers.
But Coadic insists that the Chaffoteaux action, in which 13 male workers pose nude covered only with masks or helmets, is completely peaceful.
"We don't want to destroy anything," she said. "We want to show what we can do, tell the management that, if they keep us, we can turn all this media attention into something positive."
Coadic said she was inspired by the stylish "Gods of the Stadium" calendar in which the muscular stars of Paris rugby club Stade Francais bare all in an annual display of discreetly lit beefcake.
The project also carries echoes of Britain's Calendar Girls -- the ladies of the Yorkshire Women's Institute who bared all for a charity calendar -- and the stripping steel workers of the 1997 British film "The Full Monty."
Coadic said that French workers had been prompted to action when ATG said at the start of the summer that it would close production operations in northern France, cutting 204 jobs out of a total of 250 at the site.
"Our aim is to show there are workers here who will do anything to save their jobs, even take their clothes off," said Brigitte Coadic, representative of the CGT union at the site and the woman behind the calendar, which is due out in the autumn.
The operation is the latest in a line of colorful protest stunts by French workers after "bossnappings," threats to blow up factories or pollute the Seine river, as well as the traditional dumping of agricultural produce by angry farmers.
But Coadic insists that the Chaffoteaux action, in which 13 male workers pose nude covered only with masks or helmets, is completely peaceful.
"We don't want to destroy anything," she said. "We want to show what we can do, tell the management that, if they keep us, we can turn all this media attention into something positive."
Coadic said she was inspired by the stylish "Gods of the Stadium" calendar in which the muscular stars of Paris rugby club Stade Francais bare all in an annual display of discreetly lit beefcake.
The project also carries echoes of Britain's Calendar Girls -- the ladies of the Yorkshire Women's Institute who bared all for a charity calendar -- and the stripping steel workers of the 1997 British film "The Full Monty."
Coadic said that French workers had been prompted to action when ATG said at the start of the summer that it would close production operations in northern France, cutting 204 jobs out of a total of 250 at the site.
Monday, 10 August 2009
French star Deneuve booed at Italy performance
French actress Catherine Deneuve was booed during a stage performance in Italy by people demanding a refund.
Deneuve, 65, and Italian actor Michele Placido performed a reading in French and Italian at the cultural festival in Marina di Pietrasanta, Tuscany, which was greeted by whistles and boos.
Police had to intervene to calm down about 200 people shouting, "Thieves. We want our money back,". Organizers responded by offering free tickets to another show at the La Versiliana festival as compensation.
Deneuve declined to comment, while Placido, who also is a director, downplayed Wednesday's incident.
"These things happen," he told SkyTg24 TV channel. Placido also suggested it might have been "a mistake" to have Deneuve read her part in French without subtitles.
The two actors performed a reading from George Perec's book "Je me souviens" (I Remember) — a recollection of memories from postwar decades accompanied by music.
Deneuve was nominated for an Oscar for her role in 1992's "Indochine."
Deneuve, 65, and Italian actor Michele Placido performed a reading in French and Italian at the cultural festival in Marina di Pietrasanta, Tuscany, which was greeted by whistles and boos.
Police had to intervene to calm down about 200 people shouting, "Thieves. We want our money back,". Organizers responded by offering free tickets to another show at the La Versiliana festival as compensation.
Deneuve declined to comment, while Placido, who also is a director, downplayed Wednesday's incident.
"These things happen," he told SkyTg24 TV channel. Placido also suggested it might have been "a mistake" to have Deneuve read her part in French without subtitles.
The two actors performed a reading from George Perec's book "Je me souviens" (I Remember) — a recollection of memories from postwar decades accompanied by music.
Deneuve was nominated for an Oscar for her role in 1992's "Indochine."
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Campsites evacuated as wild fires threaten campers on French Riviera
Campers were ordered to leave three campsites as the flames fanned by strong winds came within half a mile of their tents, engulfing them in smoke and ash in the Var department of southeastern France, near Saint-Tropez.
More than 300 firefighters supported by 11 water-bombing Canadair planes took five hours to douse the blaze, which started at around 5pm on Monday.
Campers at sites in the region were mainly northern Europeans from Britain, Holland and Belgium. Regional fire chiefs said an investigation had been launched to discover what started the fire, the third major forest fire in southern France this summer.
More than 300 firefighters supported by 11 water-bombing Canadair planes took five hours to douse the blaze, which started at around 5pm on Monday.
Campers at sites in the region were mainly northern Europeans from Britain, Holland and Belgium. Regional fire chiefs said an investigation had been launched to discover what started the fire, the third major forest fire in southern France this summer.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Visiting Annecy, setting for the 18th stage of the Tour de France
A French city of art and history, Annecy is known for its natural beauty, architectural heritage, and overall good living.
The capital of the Haute-Savoie department was blessed with exceptional natural surroundings—it sits on the shore of Europe’s purest lake, looks up to the Aravis and Bauges mountains, and is only a short drive away from Switzerland and Italy. The Dukes of Savoie-Nemours made a wise choice in making Annecy their capital in the 15th century.
It remained the capital of Savoie until 1860, when the kingdom lost its independence to become French. Even today, 150 years later, a handful of harmless rebels whisper for independence every now and then!
Today, some of Annecy’s most characteristic monuments bear the mark of a long and complex history. The Palais de l’Ile, also known as the old prison, is surprisingly said to be France’s most photographed monument, even beating out the Eiffel Tower. After having served as a French prison, a mint, princely demure, wedding gift, court house, and insane asylum, the palace today houses a museum retracing Annecy’s architectural history.
Unbelievably, little is known about the origins of the chateau that guards the old city. As it sits at the coveted crossroads of the ancient paths to Italy and Switzerland, sieges and fires mark its history. Ownership changed hands more often than the ball at a Harlem Globtrotters game. Finally, the city of Annecy bought it in 1953 and turned it into a showroom for museum pieces from around the greater Annecy area.
Annecy cannot be called anything but cute and quaint. Try as hard as you might, one of the old worn out descriptions is bound to pop up. Annecy could be at the origin of these cliché descriptions, because that’s just what it is–charmingly cute.
Its canals lined with geranium-blasted balconies, brightly colored facades, and arched stone walkways have earned it the nickname “the Venice of the Alps.” But the city offers enough that it doesn’t even need a nickname. Just “Annecy” is good enough.
The capital of the Haute-Savoie department was blessed with exceptional natural surroundings—it sits on the shore of Europe’s purest lake, looks up to the Aravis and Bauges mountains, and is only a short drive away from Switzerland and Italy. The Dukes of Savoie-Nemours made a wise choice in making Annecy their capital in the 15th century.
It remained the capital of Savoie until 1860, when the kingdom lost its independence to become French. Even today, 150 years later, a handful of harmless rebels whisper for independence every now and then!
Today, some of Annecy’s most characteristic monuments bear the mark of a long and complex history. The Palais de l’Ile, also known as the old prison, is surprisingly said to be France’s most photographed monument, even beating out the Eiffel Tower. After having served as a French prison, a mint, princely demure, wedding gift, court house, and insane asylum, the palace today houses a museum retracing Annecy’s architectural history.
Unbelievably, little is known about the origins of the chateau that guards the old city. As it sits at the coveted crossroads of the ancient paths to Italy and Switzerland, sieges and fires mark its history. Ownership changed hands more often than the ball at a Harlem Globtrotters game. Finally, the city of Annecy bought it in 1953 and turned it into a showroom for museum pieces from around the greater Annecy area.
Annecy cannot be called anything but cute and quaint. Try as hard as you might, one of the old worn out descriptions is bound to pop up. Annecy could be at the origin of these cliché descriptions, because that’s just what it is–charmingly cute.
Its canals lined with geranium-blasted balconies, brightly colored facades, and arched stone walkways have earned it the nickname “the Venice of the Alps.” But the city offers enough that it doesn’t even need a nickname. Just “Annecy” is good enough.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Jersey-France tunnel plan talks
Tunnelling to France
The idea of link to France is being discussed again, but this time a tunnel is being proposed.
There has been talk in the past about a bridge to France, and even the project engineer behind the Malmo Bridge between Denmark and Sweden has been to Jersey to talk about something similar here.
While that may seem like pie in the sky to some, there are others who feel a tunnel might be the answer.
Talks have started to see if there’s interest across the water in France.
The Assistant Minister for Planning and Environment, Deputy Rob Duhamel, was featured in the French newspaper Ouest-France recently and he is championing the idea. But are we looking at a tunnel or a bridge? Well, maybe both, according to Deputy Duhamel.
The idea of link to France is being discussed again, but this time a tunnel is being proposed.
There has been talk in the past about a bridge to France, and even the project engineer behind the Malmo Bridge between Denmark and Sweden has been to Jersey to talk about something similar here.
While that may seem like pie in the sky to some, there are others who feel a tunnel might be the answer.
Talks have started to see if there’s interest across the water in France.
The Assistant Minister for Planning and Environment, Deputy Rob Duhamel, was featured in the French newspaper Ouest-France recently and he is championing the idea. But are we looking at a tunnel or a bridge? Well, maybe both, according to Deputy Duhamel.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Major French Wine Regions
Bit of geography lesson today. One of the predominant reasons that France has the good fortune to be so good at producing fine wines is her geography and geology. This is a country which has many large regions which are blessed with a nice balance between not too much heat and too little and too much rain and too little. In part this is probably why France is also such a popular place to visit.
The result is that French grapes are given time to achieve their best and once it comes to vintage time most of the major wine areas of France are sufficiently cool to allow the wines to ferment in a controlled but natural way without the need to resort to artificial techniques that are more common in regions such as Spain and the USA.
So where are the main wine regions of France? The answer is thus:
Bordeaux (South West of France just off the coast)
Loire Valley ( A huge area for wine in France stretching from Nantes on the west coast to
Orleans and Bourges in the middle of the country and as far south as St Etienne )
Champagne ( A smallish region to the east of Paris including Reims and Epernay)
Lorraine ( Another small region on the French German border around Metz )
Alsace ( Just south of Lorraine and further to the east )
Jura ( Again a small region in the east of the country near the Swiss border and directly above Savoie )
Burgundy
Savoie and Bugey ( One of my personal favourites due to my love of the French Alps and my passion for skiing. In my opinion there’s nothing better in this world than the sun of your face high in the mountains with a glass of wine in hand )
Rhone Valley ( South East of the country around Orange, Avignon and Valence )
Provence ( Here we are around Nice, Marseille, St Tropez and Toulon on the South East coast of france and the surrounding hills.)
Corsica
Languedoc-Roussillon ( To the west of Provence on the south coast )
South West ( This is actually a really big region which sits between the Spanish border in the south, Bordeaux and the Loire Valley to the north and the Rhone Valley and Languedoc-Roussillon to the east. )
Till next time…
The result is that French grapes are given time to achieve their best and once it comes to vintage time most of the major wine areas of France are sufficiently cool to allow the wines to ferment in a controlled but natural way without the need to resort to artificial techniques that are more common in regions such as Spain and the USA.
So where are the main wine regions of France? The answer is thus:
Bordeaux (South West of France just off the coast)
Loire Valley ( A huge area for wine in France stretching from Nantes on the west coast to
Orleans and Bourges in the middle of the country and as far south as St Etienne )
Champagne ( A smallish region to the east of Paris including Reims and Epernay)
Lorraine ( Another small region on the French German border around Metz )
Alsace ( Just south of Lorraine and further to the east )
Jura ( Again a small region in the east of the country near the Swiss border and directly above Savoie )
Burgundy
Savoie and Bugey ( One of my personal favourites due to my love of the French Alps and my passion for skiing. In my opinion there’s nothing better in this world than the sun of your face high in the mountains with a glass of wine in hand )
Rhone Valley ( South East of the country around Orange, Avignon and Valence )
Provence ( Here we are around Nice, Marseille, St Tropez and Toulon on the South East coast of france and the surrounding hills.)
Corsica
Languedoc-Roussillon ( To the west of Provence on the south coast )
South West ( This is actually a really big region which sits between the Spanish border in the south, Bordeaux and the Loire Valley to the north and the Rhone Valley and Languedoc-Roussillon to the east. )
Till next time…
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