By Lionel Laurent and Thierry Lévêque
PARIS, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Former Societe Generale
trader Jerome Kerviel lost his appeal on Wednesday against a three-year
prison sentence for his role in France's biggest rogue-trading scandal.
A Paris appeals court
ruled that the 35-year-old ex-trader, who had fought to overturn a 2010
conviction for taking huge, risky bets that cost SocGen 4.9 billion
euros ($6.35 billion), was responsible
It said he must also repay the bank the billions lost, potentially a life-time claim on part of his earnings.
"Jerome Kerviel was the sole creator, inventor and user of a fraudulent system that caused these damages to Societe Generale," the court said in its ruling.
A nervous-looking
Kerviel, who chewed his nails as he heard the verdict, was not forced to
go to jail immediately. A separate judge will decide the precise terms
of his sentence and how many hours he spends behind bars every day - a
process that lawyers say could take weeks.
In all, Kerviel's sentence is for five years in jail, two of which are suspended.
The ruling is a victory
for SocGen, which has spent years trying to shake off the scandal after
it hit headlines around the world at the dawn of the 2008 financial
crisis.
It also comes as the financial industry battles lawsuits over crisis-era behaviour and public perception it is too risky.
Kerviel's lawyer, David
Koubbi, said he was examining the possibility of calling on France's
highest court of appeal, the Cour de Cassation, to rule on the legality
of the rulings.
"We had given ourselves
the goal of defending Mr. Kerviel against an absolutely appalling
injustice. I can tell you that we've failed," Koubbi told journalists
outside the court.
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