SEOUL:

Deutsche Bank AG's South Korean brokerage unit and one of its employees were convicted of manipulating share prices in November 2010, triggering a one-day rout that wiped out 28 trillion won ($23 billion) in value from the nation's equity market.

The 43-year-old banker was sentenced to a five-year jail term and his employer, Deutsche Securities Korea, fined 1.5 billion won, according to a ruling released Monday by Seoul Central District Court Judge Shim Gyu Hong. The employee wasn't identified in court. Deutsche Bank, based in Frankfurt, earned 44.8 billion won from the trades, according to the verdict. The profits will be collected by the prosecution, according to the ruling. "Deutsche Bank respectfully acknowledges the court's decision regarding its Korean subsidiary," Michael West, a Hong Kongbased spokesman for the parent company, said in an e-mailed statement.