RPT-PREVIEW-Day of reckoning for ex-trader Jerome Kerviel

(Repeats Oct. 3 story with no changes to text)

* Verdict due Oct. 5

* Kerviel faces up to 5 yrs in prison, 375,000 euro fine

* "Court of public opinion" opposed to harsh sentence-lawyer

* Risk lingers for SocGen despite U.S. suit dismissal

By Lionel Laurent

PARIS, Oct 3 (Reuters) - A Paris judge will on Tuesday decide whether former trader Jerome Kerviel should be punished for his freewheeling market bets that brought French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) to the brink of collapse in 2008.

The 33-year-old ex-trader, who now works for a technology consultancy, risks five years in prison and a 375,000 euro ($512,100) fine if found guilty of charges of breach of trust, computer abuse and forgery.

At the end of Kerviel's high-profile three-week trial in June, his defence team pleaded guilty to computer abuse but rejected the other charges. The public prosecutor has recommended Kerviel serve at least four years behind bars, with a fifth year suspended. [ID:nLDE65N0Z0]

Tuesday's verdict is critical for SocGen, which has worked hard to clean up its image and tighten risk controls since the scandal broke. The bank says Kerviel acted alone and egregiously in taking unauthorised positions worth 50 billion euros that cost 4.9 billion to unwind.

Kerviel does not deny he took risky bets and lied to cover them up but claims his superiors knew what he was doing. During his three-week trial in June his lawyers cast him as an innocent pawn, corrupted and goaded by a bank that was hooked on risk.

"If Kerviel is absolved, it could bring other problems, other actions against Societe Generale," said Bradley Simon, senior partner of law firm Simon & Partners LLP. He said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could for example open its own inquiry as a result.

One recent piece of news in SocGen's favour is the dismissal of a U.S. shareholder lawsuit accusing the French bank of concealing nearly 7 billion euros in losses from the Kerviel blow-up and exposure to subprime mortgages. [ID:nN29253814]

The ruling was the latest in a series by U.S. judges that narrow an investor's ability to raise fraud claims in U.S. courts against foreign companies.

"The wings (of U.S. investor lawsuits) have been clipped somewhat," said Simon. "It's obviously a benefit for SocGen."

SCAPEGOAT OR GENIUS?

At the heart of the Kerviel case is the man himself and how he could have single-handedly put the entire company at risk without any discernible profit motive.

Was he a humble Breton boy corrupted and later betrayed by a greedy corporation that tolerated breaches in its risk control system as long as they were profitable, or was he an "evil genius" who cunningly gamed the system for glory?

The contrasting versions clashed in June during emotive testimony by the ex-head of Societe Generale, Daniel Bouton, around whom employees rallied when the Kerviel scandal broke but who stepped down in 2009 in the face of public criticism.

Bouton told the courtroom Kerviel was an "evil genius" well-versed in backroom operations and trade risk controls who would have cracked even the toughest security mechanism. He said his fear upon discovering Kerviel's huge positions led him to call the trader a "terrorist". [ID:nLDE65L24N]

Bouton did admit there were weaknesses in the bank's risk controls at the time, for which it was fined 4 million euros in 2008 by French banking regulators.

Kerviel, however, said he had been encouraged by his bosses and was trying to make money for the bank - even if he did acknowledge having gone too far and made "errors".

"I find it hard to fathom that he could have acted by himself - how a junior person could almost bring down the bank," said Simon & Partners' Simon.

The strategy of lumping SocGen managers in the same boat as Kerviel allows the ex-trader's defence team to combat the principal charges of forgery against him, argues Philippe Portier, partner with law firm Jeantet & Associes.

Meanwhile, for those who do not believe SocGen was the culprit rather than the victim - such as the public prosecutor - it has proven difficult even after three weeks of testimony to convincingly explain the real motive behind the former trader's actions.

In his closing statements, Paris Prosecutor Jean-Michel Aldebert said to Kerviel: "Why did you continue your insane race? To win money for the bank? Certainly not. You alone, Jerome Kerviel, have the answer."

For more on the trial see [ID:nLDE6570ON]

(Additional reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) ($1 = 0.7322 euro)