SocGen woes mean rich pickings for bankers, taxman

PARIS (Reuters) - Other banks and the French taxman stand to make hundreds of million of dollars as Societe Generale

boosts its capital with a deeply discounted rights issue after rogue trading and U.S. subprime losses.

An official at the bank said on Monday the company would have to pay taxes on a 1.4 billion euro ($2.04 billion) capital gain the trader in the eye of the storm, Jerome Kerviel, made in 2007 before the size of his unauthorized dealings came to light.

SocGen posted a 4.9 billion net loss after it unwound Kerviel's positions over 2-1/2 days while world markets tumbled on recession fears.

France's second-biggest listed bank and No. 12 in Europe launched on Monday a 5.5 billion cash call. The prospectus shows it will pay 143 million euros in fees to banks running the capital increase, or 2.6 percent of the amount while this is normally between 1.5 and 2 percent.

When rival BNP Paribas raised 5.5 billion euros to pay for the acquisition of Italy's BNL in 2006, it paid a total of 86 million euros in fees or 1.6 percent.

SocGen is also giving investors a hefty discount of nearly 40 percent on its rights issue -- compared to a 15.5 percent discount on the BNP deal in 2006.

(Reporting by Marcel Michelson, Yann Le Guernigou, Tim Hepher; Editing by Louise Ireland)