Company was unaware of Kerviel's bets -SocGen executive

PARIS (Reuters) - Societe Generale bosses were unaware of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel's "criminal" bets, which cost the bank 4.9 billion euros ($5.97 billion) to unwind in 2008, the bank's head of global markets said on Monday.

Kerviel covered his tracks and hid unauthorised trading positions that reached an estimated 50 billion euros, Societe Generale's Christophe Mianne told the court in the Palais de Justice on the fifth day of Kerviel's trial.

The 33-year-old Kerviel has insisted his superiors knew what he was doing and that his trading desk saw position limits as "porous." SocGen has denied tacit complicity and is determined to see Kerviel sentenced.

"Mr Kerviel's superiors were unaware. This is my strong conviction," said Mianne. He described Kerviel's actions as "criminal" and said the former trader had shown a complete denial of reality and of his losses.

"I saw many red eyes and tears (from employees when Kerviel was found out)," added Mianne. "I don't think they were acting."

Meanwhile, a former compliance officer at SocGen told the court there would have been several databases available to Kerviel's superiors where all trading operations could be tracked.

Kerviel's superiors would also have been able to track down any changes made in the data entry system to mask positions, added Valerie Rolland, a friend of Kerviel who was due to be his marriage witness.

"I can confirm Jerome was someone normal, not a high roller, a friend," she said before bursting into tears.

Kerviel risks five years in prison and a 375,000 euros fine if found guilty of charges of breach of trust, computer abuse and forgery. His trial began on Tuesday amid a media frenzy over one of the most famous faces of the financial crisis in France.

(Writing by Lionel Laurent; Editing by Mike Nesbit)