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A French appeals court has slashed the amount of damages due to be paid by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel to €1m ($1.12m; £860,00).

Kerviel had been ordered to pay back the €4.9bn of losses his trades amassed for his ex-employer Societe Generale.

In 2010, Kerviel was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud, breach of trust and forgery over his trades.

Kerviel wants a retrial, arguing that he should not have to pay anything, as his bosses knew about his activities.

"Justice is advancing. We went from €4.9bn to €1m. It gives me energy, the fight continues.

"I hope to reach a compensation deal that goes to zero. Because I still estimate I owe nothing to Societe Generale," he said.

The appeals court said that Kerviel was "partially responsible for the loss".

But it acknowledged that Societe Generale had shown "deficiencies" in its oversight, which was partly to blame for the loss.

Jerome Kerviel: Rogue trader or folk hero?

Image copyright Getty Images

Those who have watched the case say the latest decision is a sign of how much attitudes have changed.

"That the sum has now been reduced to just €1m is a sign of how the view of the French courts towards the affair has evolved over the years," said Hugh Schofield, BBC Paris correspondent.

"There is now an acknowledgement - more or less explicit - that the bank Societe Generale was also responsible for the losses incurred by its former trader, because of its lack of effective controls," he added.

Unfair dismissal

In June, in a separate civil case, Kerviel won a claim for unfair dismissal.

A labour court said the bank had dismissed him not because of his actions, which it must have known of, but for their consequences.

The court ordered the bank to pay Kerviel €450,000 (£350,000) in damages.