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Versailles - A French appeals court began hearings on Wednesday into whether former rogue trader Jerome Kerviel should repay his ex-employer Societe Generale the €4.9bn he gambled away through unauthorised trades in 2008.
A horde of journalists were on hand as 39-year-old Kerviel arrived at the court in Versailles, near Paris.
But the case may have to wait for the outcome of a separate bid by Kerviel, launched in Paris on Monday, for a retrial of the criminal fraud case that saw him sentenced to three years in jail.
Shady dealings
At issue is the degree of responsibility that France's third largest bank bore in the affair, which could have bankrupted Societe Generale had Kerviel's trades not been discovered and unwound in time.
One of his lawyers, David Koubbi, said he would ask for a delay until after the Paris court's ruling, set for March 21.
He cited a bombshell revelation on Sunday that a former deputy prosecutor in the case had said it was "obvious" that Societe Generale had been aware of Kerviel's shady dealings.
A top detective in the case secretly recorded the Paris deputy prosecutor, Chantal de Leiris, saying in a June 2015 conversation: "When the subject comes up, anyone even a little bit involved in finance laughs, knowing very well that Societe Generale knew... it's obvious, obvious."
Koubbi said any further conviction of Kerviel would be "a continuation of this judicial dysfunction that we condemn."
Branded a crook by his ex-employer and a scapegoat by his defenders, Kerviel says his bosses turned a blind eye to his malfeasance as long as the profits kept rolling in.
Societe Generale on Monday rejected what it called "pseudo-revelations" and a "new media manipulation" in the case.
The bank's lawyer Jean Veil dismissed as "nonsense" the idea that the bank knew of the rogue trading.
False data
It is "implausible that those directly above Jerome Kerviel or the people who worked with him every day knew but didn't say anything," said Veil.
He said Kerviel's colleagues would have no interest in covering up his risky manoeuvres for fear of jeopardising their bonuses, which depend on the performance of the team.
Kerviel's conviction in 2010 of breach of trust, forgery and entering false data was upheld on appeal.
He was also ordered to repay to Societe Generale the €4.9bn he lost - although an appeals court overturned the order, arguing that the bank's internal oversight mechanisms had failed.
Kerviel left prison in September 2014 after spending less than five months behind bars.
