Court orders rogue trader release

A French court has ordered that the former Societe Generale trader accused of losing billions of euros be released from custody.

Jerome Kerviel has been held in prison since 8 February, as the investigation into the 5bn euros ($7bn; £3.5bn) lost at his former employer continues.

Societe Generale says that he used inside knowledge to cover up trades.

But an internal report criticised the bank's oversight of traders, saying that some procedures were lax.

Strict conditions

Societe Generale announced the trading losses in late January. Shortly afterwards, Mr Kerviel turned himself into police.

Prosecutors accused him of breach of trust, fabricating documents and illegally accessing computers.

Last month, they won a court order to have Mr Kerviel jailed, arguing that he might undermine the investigation by talking to others caught up in the probe.

A court on Tuesday reversed that ruling, but strict conditions remain on Mr Kerviel's freedom.

He is not allowed to be active in the financial markets or leave the Paris region without permission.

He cannot meet anyone connected with the investigation and has to present himself weekly at a police station.

Internal investigation

SocGen's internal investigation concluded that Mr Kerviel had started making unauthorised trades in 2005, initially for small amounts.

But by the time SocGen uncovered the trades in January, the trading position had hit 49bn euros.

SocGen was forced to reverse those trades in unfavourable market conditions, resulting in huge losses.

The report also said that Mr Kerviel acted alone.

(Published by BBC News March 18, 2008)