French rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel is released from prison

Former Société Générale trader has served five months of this three-year jail term, and has been fitted with an electronic tag

Jérôme Kerviel hugs a member of his support committee after he left jail near Paris (AFP/Getty)

A French man convicted in one of history’s largest trading fraud cases emerged from a prison south of Paris on conditional release today before being fitted with an electronic tag.

Jérôme Kerviel, 37, left Fleury-Merogis jail, where he was held apart from other inmates, and said he was “super happy” about the release. He has served five months of this three-year jail term, and will have to remain at home on weekday nights.

Kerviel was convicted of forgery and breach of trust after his trades cost Société Générale €4.9bn in losses in 2008, just as the global financial crisis was growing.

He claims the bank quietly welcomed his unauthorised trades when they made money and said he would “fight” to prove wrongdoing by the bank. Kerviel spent two months walking from Rome to France before going to jail.