Daniel Bouton portrayed himself as the experienced captain who would steer French bank Societe Generale through the storm caused by the Kerviel trading scandal, but a year of public criticism finally overwhelmed him, with his resignation as chairman announced on April 29. Bouton said the repeated attacks ended up affecting him personally.
"The criticism which has targeted me has become unbearable," Bouton told Le Figaro newspaper in an interview. "The repeated attacks against me personally in France for the past 15 months affect me but most of all they risk harming the bank and its 163,000 employees," he said in a subsequent statement issued by the bank. "In the present financial and economic storm priority must go to unity. It is better for me to withdraw, proud of having led a wonderful company."
Bouton was born in the 12th arrondissement of eastern Paris in April 1950. After attending high-school in the Paris region and studying law, Bouton then followed in the footsteps of many of France's top businessmen and politicians by going to the prestigious Ecole Nationale d'Administration. On graduation he became a government auditor and was on the fast track of France's civil service during the 1970s.
A decade later, the stocky, bespectacled banker was mixing with future conservative prime minister Alain Juppe and Philippe Jaffre, head of oil group Elf Aquitaine. When Juppe became France's budget minister in 1986, Bouton was his chief of staff. Promoted to budget director, he oversaw privatisation of national tobacco monopoly Seita. Although he advocated a free market, Bouton retained the position when the Socialists resumed power in 1988.
Bouton found it difficult to work for the Socialist government and ended up joining SocGen in 1991. Up until the Kerviel trading scandal Bouton had enjoyed a smooth career at SocGen. He scaled the ranks to become chairman and chief executive and fended off a take-over bid in 1999 from rival BNP Paribas.
When asked in 1999 if he would like to stay with SocGen if BNP Paribas managed to buy it, Bouton replied: "I would rather be a gardener." However, last year's revelation of record losses caused by unauthorised trades by former SocGen junior trader Jerome Kerviel knocked the stuffing out of the usually self-confident Bouton.
He appeared nervous when SocGen hastily organised a news conference in the wake of the Kerviel revelation and humbly presented his excuses. However, his apologies did not prevent French President Nicolas Sarkozy from urging Bouton to quit. "When the chairman of a company experiences a disaster of this magnitude and he does not assume the consequences of this, that is not normal," Sarkozy told a French paper last year. Bouton eventually made a compromise. He gave up his chief executive position last year but held onto the chairmanship.