By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Thierry Leveque
PARIS (Reuters) - Jerome Kerviel, the Frenchman blamed byhis company for the world's biggest rogue trading scandal, leftjail on Tuesday after winning a legal battle against detention.
Kerviel, 31, walked free from the Sante prison in Parisafter five weeks in custody while investigators continue toprobe heavy losses at French bank Societe Generale.
Looking relaxed in a dark suit and pink shirt with no tie,the former trader stepped into a Paris side street accompaniedby his lawyer Elisabeth Meyer.
Kerviel did not speak to reporters but paused briefly forcameras and was driven off in a small car.
Under the terms of his conditional release, there arestrict limits on his movements and contacts.
SocGen unveiled 4.9 billion euros (3.8 billion pounds) oftrading losses on January 24 and blamed them on unauthorisedstock market deals carried out by Kerviel, a junior trader atthe bank.
Kerviel is under formal investigation for breach of trust,computer abuse and falsification.
He has acknowledged trading without approval but has toldpolice his supervisors must have known of his activities.
Judges placed him under formal investigation shortly afterthe scandal broke but allowed him to remain free under judicialsupervision, a system which resembles bail.
Prosecutors appealed and he was sent to the Sante, a prisonoften used for high-profile detainees, on February 8.
That decision was reversed earlier on Tuesday andprosecutors said that this time they would not appeal.
"Jerome is very happy, I don't think he expected it," Meyersaid after visiting him in prison following the court sessionbut before he was actually freed.
As hours ticked by following the court decision to releasehim, Kerviel's spokesman Christophe Reille fielded impatientquestions from journalists and photographers.
"I doubt he wants to stay inside in the warm. I think it'sfair to say if he could come out he would," he said.
Kerviel's dizzying stock market bets totalling 50 billioneuros under the noses of SocGen have spawned a handful ofhastily written books about the photogenic former trader.
For some, Kerviel's trades symbolised the folly of modernmarkets, whose recent collapse exposed his risky trades.
Among others, particularly in Internet chatrooms, Kervielhas been lauded as an anti-establishment folk hero.
His release was broadcast on live television.
RESTRICTIONS
Kerviel is barred from entering a trading room or anexchange, may not engage in any activities related to financialmarkets, and has to present himself weekly at a police station.
He cannot leave the Ile-de-France central French regionthat includes Paris without permission and must surrender hispassport and identity card. He has to inform the investigatingmagistrates each month where he is staying.
He cannot meet witnesses or other parties involved in thecase. His lawyer reiterated Kerviel acted alone.
Societe Generale's lawyer, Jean Veil, said he was pleasedwith the strict controls under which Kerviel was placed.
"The Societe Generale is a victim, and I believe victimsshould not cry out for vengeance but to obtain reparation ofthe damages," Veil said.
An internal SocGen report said Kerviel had acted alone butsaid the bank's control systems were not built to preventfraud.
Weakened by the losses, SocGen is seen as a takeover targetwith arch rival BNP Paribas trying to drum up political supportfor a takeover bid.
In 1999, BNP narrowly failed to buy its rival.
The bank was already facing losses from the subprimemortgage crisis in the United States that has claimed somebig-name victims, most recently Bear Stearns.
Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer criticised SocGen'srisk-control systems and French President Nicolas Sarkozy hasmade clear he thinks SocGen Chairman Daniel Bouton should quit.
Although he offered to resign when the losses firstemerged, Bouton has said he has a mandate from the board tokeep his job and continue with the bank's strategy to remainindependent.
(Writing by Tim Hepher, Marcel Michelson, Editing byQuentin Bryar and Keith Weir)
