A French labour court on June 7 awarded Jérôme Kerviel, the Societe Generale rogue trader convicted in 2010 of bringing the bank to the brink of collapse, a total of €450,000 ($511,000) because he was fired without “real or serious cause".

Societe Generale "could not pretend it hadn't long been aware of the unauthorised trades conducted by Kerviel," judges wrote in their ruling. The bank therefore can't argue that Kerviel was at fault when it "previously tolerated similar practices," they added.