SocGen rogue trader Kerviel sentenced to five years in prison

Jérôme Kerviel, the rogue trader who almost sent French giant Société Générale to the brink of collapse, has been sentenced to five years in prison and told to reimburse the bank €4.9bn.

Kerviel, who pleaded guilty to the charge of computer abuse, was also found guilty of forgery and a breach of trust by a Paris court. He was sentenced him to five years in prison, two of them suspended. The 2008 rouge trading scandal, in which Kerviel took unauthorised positions worth €50bn, eventually cost the French bank €4.9bn. Kerviel, the 33-year-old who now works for a technology consultancy, does not deny he covered up the risky bets, but says a number of superiors at SocGen knew of his trading activities. However, the judges said Kerviel had not been given even tacit author...