国际英语新闻：Former SocGen trader to stand trial this week

BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Societe Generale (SocGen) trader Jerome Kerviel will be trailed this week for costing his employer 4.9 billion euros of trading loss.

Kerviel, 33, will face charges of breach of trust, computer abuse and forgery. He may be given a five-year prison term and a fine bill of 375,000 euros if found guilty.

Societe Generale, which reported massive trading losses in January 2008, claims that its dealer Kerviel made unauthorized and highly speculative deals running to billions of euros and covered up the massive sums involved with fictitious deals.

A man, whom French media are identifying as Societe Generale employee Jerome Kerviel, is seen in this undated photo. The trader at the heart of an alleged 4.9 billion euros ($7.1 billion) fraud at French bank Societe Generale has been identified as Kerviel, three sources within the company said on Jan. 24, 2008

Kerviel defended himself by claiming himself as a scapegoat of the bank. He said SocGen was not only aware of his deeds,but also supported him. “I was wrong and committed errors, faults even, but I was serious and efficient at work and the fact my bosses protected me and I was promoted during my short career shows this,” he writes in his book titled "Trapped in a Spiral: Memoirs of a Trader", which was published recently.

SocGen denied any knowledge of or complicity in Kerviel’s dealing, but was still given a record fine by the French banking regulator for control failures.

The hearing is expected to last for three weeks. It will also reveal the extent to which giant French banks were involved in similarly risky financial practices to those in Britain and America.

Kerviel says in his bool the trial will reveal the global mire in which dealing rooms wallow. Anything is allowed to get good results,” he writes.

Kerviel now works as a computer consultant. His lawyer, Olivier Metzner, said his client was confident about the trial and will come up with new evidence.