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French 'rogue trader' to learn if must repay billions

Versailles - French "rogue trader" Jerome Kerviel will learn on Friday whether he must repay Societe Generale the €4.9bn that he lost in a series of disastrous trades.

The appeals court in Versailles, outside Paris, could order 39-year-old Kerviel to repay the entire sum, part of it, or not a single euro.

But if it rules Kerviel does not have to pay anything, it will be a humiliating defeat for Societe Generale.

Even worse for the bank, the court could also order it to repay €2.2bn in compensation it received from the French state over the case.

If the ruling goes the other way, it will be largely symbolic, as Kerviel could never repay even a fraction of the losses.

Kerviel was convicted of breach of trust, forgery and entering false data for the trades which nearly bankrupted Societe Generale in 2008.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, two of which were suspended, but has always maintained that his bosses had turned a blind eye as long as the profits kept rolling in.

In total he only actually spent 150 days in prison.

In a civil case, Kerviel was first ordered to repay the entirety of the enormous losses but that was quashed on appeal, with judges ruling that the bank's internal oversight mechanisms had failed.

The scheduled verdict on Friday follows hearings at the Versailles appeal court in June in which lawyers for Societe Generale made a fresh attempt to claw back the cash.

The bank said it had "always recognised the weaknesses and faults in its system of checks", but that Kerviel was responsible for the trades.

Scapegoat or villain?

In June, Kerviel finally had something to celebrate when a Paris labour tribunal ordered Societe Generale to pay him €450 000 in damages, saying he had been fired "without genuine or serious cause". The bank has appealed.

Kerviel, from a modest background in the western region of Brittany, divides opinion in France.

Many believe he is a scapegoat while others think he should pay the price for his actions.

He has never denied taking risks - at one point staking €50bn of the bank's money - but maintains that his bosses were just as much at fault as he was.

Although paid a relatively modest salary, Kerviel is alleged to have made Societe Generale €1.9bn before the financial crisis accelerated his losses.

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