How come the French got away with it?

Yesterday in the Evening Standard I read Chris Blackhurst's piece on SocGen. He said that the actions by the French Central Bank made a mockery of the claims by Mervyn King that he couldn't do a hush hush quiet job because of EU law.

I had a think, and came to the conclusion that it was just the French not listening to EU law, and the EU not doing much about it because they are more concerned about a financial crisis and they were probably a wee bit out of their depth. And it was the weekend so no one was at work.

But, Northern Rock hasn't actually lost any money yet. And if it did, I would think that it would be nowhere near the amount lost at SocGen by a trader who knew the middle office and the back room and so could cover his tracks. And I think that's something which banks should keep more of an eye on...