Paris boutique Lussan lands SocGen fraud role

Paris boutique Lussan & Associes has landed a profile-raising mandate to advise Societe Generale on its lawsuit against a trader accused of defrauding the French lender and causing losses of around €4.9bn (£3.7bn).

Lussan partner Francois Martineau, whose broad practice covers M&A, banking, business crimes and insolvency, is leading the team advising SocGen on its claim against the trader, Jerome Kerviel.

The 10-partner firm is headed by name partner Claude Lussan, an arbitration and banking specialist, and counts HSBC and BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, among its regular clients.

The news comes after SocGen yesterday (24 January) filed a formal complaint against Kerviel with the Nanterre Public Prosecutor. The complaint is based on three main charges including fraudulent falsification of banking records, the use of such records and computer fraud.

A spokesman for SocGen said the bank had taken immediate measures to contain the impact of the loss, amid speculation that it had accelerated recent falls in the global stock markets.

City giants Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Norton Rose are among the firms to advise SocGen internationally, alongside French leader Gide Loyrette Nouel and the US trio of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Shearman & Sterling and White & Case.

Local advisers to the bank include Denton Wilde Sapte, Jones Day, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei and Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.

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