SocGen suicides put stress at work under spotlight

PARIS (Reuters) - Three employees at Societe Generale in Paris have committed suicide in as many years, unions said on Tuesday, as they raised concerns about the stressful work environment at the scandal-hit bank.

Societe Generale last week revealed that a rogue trader built up massive illicit positions at its Paris headquarters that cost the bank 4.9 billion euros to unwind.

Since the shock announcement, the bank's working conditions have come under close scrutiny and union sources said three members of staff at SocGen's investment arm had killed themselves since 2005.

"Stress at work is a top concern," said Michel Marchet from the SocGen CGT union. "Expectations are high," he added.

The most recent incident, confirmed by Societe Generale, involved a trader who threw himself off a highway bridge in June last year nearby the bank's head office.

The man was in his 30s and a specialist in equity derivatives, like the rogue trader blamed for last week's losses -- Jerome Kerviel.

Union officials said the man killed himself just hours after he was reprimanded by management for losing 9-10 million euros ($13.31 million) in unspecified trades.

The June suicide is being investigated internally by the bank. "We did not talk about it at the time out of respect for his family and we are not making any comment about it now," a SocGen spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The incident showed the extent to which investment bankers were caught up in a rat race and faced pressure to beat the bank's exacting performance targets, unions said.

"DESPAIR"

The Paris prosecutor who questioned Kerviel said on Monday he wanted the 31-year-old trader placed in custody, partly to protect him from himself and from potential "acts of despair." Judges decided instead to free him as the probe continues.

Three separate union representatives reported two other suicides at SocGen in recent years.

In 2006, a man who worked in the investment bank's back-office committed suicide on the highspeed RER subway.

Another, involved in front-office trading controls, killed himself on the bank's premises in 2005, the unionists said.

A source close to SocGen confirmed there had been two suicides at the investment bank in 2005 and in 2006, but declined to give details.

Asked if all three deaths were work related, Pierre Cuevas, from the CFDT union at SocGen, said: "Yes".

SocGen, which employs more than 120,000 worldwide, would not comment.

Kerviel told investigators he wanted to impress his peers and gain recognition for his trades. He said he was not seeking to defraud the bank.

Kerviel was just one of thousands of investment bankers around the world who work exceptionally long hours.

"Many people in that business never see their home during daylight, especially during their first years," a former London-based trader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, unions said SocGen's management should have been concerned by the fact that Kerviel had taken hardly any time off during 2007.

"When an employee does not take any holidays for a long time, it is a worrying sign and it is strange that no-one from his superiors spotted that," said the CFDT's Cuevas.

Union officials said they had requested a meeting with top SocGen managers on Wednesday afternoon to express their worries.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Crispian Balmer/Elaine Hardcastle)