Accused rogue trader Jerome Kerviel went on the attack against his former bank employers before they gave their first evidence yesterday to back allegations that he secretly gambled tens of billions of euros.
Mr Kerviel said on the first day of the showcase trial that Societe Generale managers "encouraged" him to take risks on European share futures.
Societe Generale, one of Europe's biggest banks, said it had to unravel €50 billion of unauthorised trades when it discovered the fraud in January 2008 and that it lost €4.9 billion on Mr Kerviel's actions.
During the first day's sitting, the judge concentrated on examining Kerviel's psychological profile. In a hearing that broke down into squabbling between the lawyers, Kerviel denied he was to blame for the losses and insisted his bosses knew the risks and backed him.
Yesterday the court had to question Jean-Pierre Mustier, the former head of Societe Generale's investment division in which Mr Kerviel worked on the "Delta One" trading desk.
The court must decide whether Mr Kerviel is solely responsible for the losses in a case seen as a symbol of the banking excesses blamed for the financial crisis.
A psychological assessment cited at Tuesday's hearing described Mr Kerviel as a "balanced" individual, but presiding judge Dominique Pauthe sought to shed light on what prompted the trades and asked: "Who are you, Mr Kerviel?"
The ex-trader presented himself as an ordinary, hard-working man, now a computer consultant earning €2,300 per month. He said he made mistakes but that his bosses were happy as long as profits rolled in.
"The daily encouragement from my superiors did not stop me. Rather they encouraged me to continue," he told the judge.
Mr Kerviel risks a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of €375,000 if convicted on charges of breach of trust, falsifying and using fake documents and entering false data into company computers.
Branded a crook by his ex-employer but seen by others as a scapegoat, Mr Kerviel faces criminal charges along with civil suits by the bank and other plaintiffs, including employees and shareholders.