Asked who bears the greatest responsibility for the scandal, 50 per cent pointed the finger at Societe Generale's management and 27 per cent faulted the financial markets regulator AMF.

Kerviel was seen as the culprit by 13 per cent, slightly more than the 10 per cent of respondents who said they did not know, according to the poll by the OpinionWay firm for Le Figaro newspaper and LCI television.

Some 50 per cent of respondents said Societe Generale chairman Daniel Bouton should resign compared to 30 percent who felt he should keep his job.

Kerviel, 31, is the only person to have been charged in the scandal over the loss of 4.8 billion euros (S$10.2 billion) at Societe Generale, France's third biggest bank by market capitalisation.

He is accused of falsifying documents and unauthorised computer access but has been released under judicial supervision.

The junior trader has told investigators during questioning that his bosses must have been aware of his dealings because of the profits he was generating.

Societe Generale said the trader had held positions worth about 50 billion euros when he was caught - a figure well in excess of the bank's market value of 35.9 billion euros.

First employed in the middle and back offices as part of the support staff, Kerviel had moved up to the front office in 2005.

There, he was trading futures on European share indices, effectively betting on the future direction of the stock market. -- AFP