Former Societe Generale trader battles French force

Jerome Kerviel must be hoping for strong book sales after being ordered to repay the €4.9 billion the bank lost from his actions, says Rupert Wright.

Jerome Kerviel arrives at a Paris court for the verdict in his trial. The former trader plans to appeal against his sentence. Charles Platiau / Reuters

In Parisian book shops, Jerome Kerviel's airbrushed features stare blankly from the cover of his book L'engrenage: Memoires d'un Trader or The Spiral: Memoirs of a Trader. He must be hoping the publicity will help boost sales, for as well as being sentenced to five years in jail yesterday, two of which are suspended, he was also ordered to repay the €4.9 billion (Dh24.77bn) a bank lost as a result of his actions.

Kerviel, 33, a former index futures trader, reportedly stood expressionless as the court pronounced the verdict - or maybe it was just the botox his face seemed to have been pumped with for the book's cover shot. In any event, he plans to appeal against the sentence and has been released on bail. His defence during the trial in June was that the bank that employed him, Societe Generale, one of the oldest and grandest of the French banks, tolerated his speculation as long as he kept making money.

He claimed it used him as a scapegoat to cover up sub-prime related losses. In his memoirs, he compared his former job to "prostitution", with his superiors eagerly counting his earnings each day. In contrast, the former chief executive of Societe Generale Daniel Bouton claimed Kerviel was a "financial terrorist". Mr Bouton, who resigned from the bank, appeared on the final day of the trial, alleging the former trader was "a catastrophe" who "created a fraudulent business within the bank".

If his appeal fails, Kerviel will probably have to get used to prison life. It does not sound like it will be a huge difference from what he is used to. Asked recently how he was living while on bail, Kerviel responded: "Modestly, like most people," adding that he worked for a computer services company near Paris, lived in a small flat and could not afford to go on holiday. The son of a Brittany steelworker, his mother a hairdresser, he had enjoyed a meteoric career at the French bank before being accused of concealing loss-making trades worth up to €50bn.

The bank had to unwind its positions, which it claims resulted in the €4.9bn loss. Quite how the money will be paid remains a matter of speculation.