Mr Kerviel will appeal against his conviction Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel has said he was “crushed” by a French court’s decision to jail him for three years for risky trades.
In his first comment since being sentenced on Tuesday, he told Europe 1 radio he was being made a scapegoat for the 4.9bn-euro ($7bn; £4bn) loss.
He was found guilty of forgery, breach of trust and unauthorised computer use.
Kerviel’s lawyer said they would appeal against the conviction. He will remain free until the appeal is heard.
The total sentence handed down was five years in prison, with two years suspended. Kerviel was also ordered to repay the bank’s losses and banned from trading for life.
“I’m starting to digest it, but I’m nonetheless crushed by the weight of the sanction and the weight of responsibility the ruling places on me,” Kerviel said in the French radio interview.
He added that the court ruling was like being “hit on the head with a club”.
The trial earlier this year centred on charges that he bet 50bn euros of SocGen’s money without the bank’s knowledge.
Kerviel’s defence was the bank knew about the risk-taking and was content while he was making profits.
But the court was unconvinced, with presiding judge Dominique Pauthe telling the court that Kerviel “knowingly went beyond his remit as a trader”.
On the basis of his current earnings, Kerviel would need about 180,000 years to reimburse to Societe Generale the sum he was ordered to pay.
Even if this is obviously unachievable, Kerviel could be left with the equivalent of a living wage for the rest of his life, any exceeding amount being taken directly from his salary or pension.
It is up to the bank to decide whether it will ask for payments. Many analysts expect it will not, as the aim was mainly to be publicly cleared of allegations that it turned a blind eye to Kerviel’s behaviour.
Societe Generale has said it is very satisified with the ruling and wants to draw a line under this case, from which it says it has learnt lessons by reinforcing its control systems.
The bank was fined 4m euros by French regulators for failures in those systems following the scandal.
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