Société Générale rogue trader, Jerome Kerviel, jailed

Paris: Jérôme Kerviel, the former Société Générale trader, whose rogue dealings almost bankrupted the French bank, was convicted of breach of trust and other charges Tuesday and sentenced to five years in prison of which he will spend at least three.

Two years of the sentence has been suspended. Kerviel has also been barred for life from working in financial services.

The court also ordered Kerviel, 33, to pay 4.9 billion euros, or $6.7 billion, to the bank- this being the entire amount the bank lost unwinding his trades in early 2008. Since there is no possibility of the payment ever being made, the move is considered to be largely symbolic.

A spokeswoman for Société Générale, while admitting that the damage award was a ''symbolic'' sum that the bank did not expect would be paid, stressed that it was important as the award recognized the fact that Kerviel was entirely responsible for the bank's losses.

Kerviel admitted at his trial that he had indeed falsified documents and entered fake trades to cover his rogue operation, but maintained that his seniors had deliberately turned a blind eye to what he was doing and had even tacitly encouraged his activities so long as they were profitable .

Kerviel's lawyer, Olivier Metzner, said he would appeal immediately. ''This judgment is totally unreasonable,'' he said speaking outside the courtroom. ''It suggests that the bank is not responsible for anything, that no system of control could have prevented this.''