Verdict expected in huge damages granted to French bank

FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, Jerome Kerviel, arrives at the Versailles appeal court, outside Paris, fighting the award of damages. Kerviel will learn Friday Sept. 23, 2016, whether he'll have to pay a staggering 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion) to the Societe Generale bank that employed him when he made huge losses through reckless operations. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, FILE) (The Associated Press)

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FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, March 21, 2016, Jerome Kerviel smiles as he leaves Paris cour house in Paris. Kerviel will learn Friday Sept. 23, 2016, whether he'll have to pay a staggering 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion) to the Societe Generale bank that employed him when he made huge losses through reckless operations.AP Photo/Michel Euler, FILE) (The Associated Press)

Former trader Jerome Kerviel speaks to the media at the Versailles appeal court, west of Paris, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016. A French court has cut the civil damages owed by former trader Jerome Kerviel from 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion) to 1 million euros ($1.1 million). (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (The Associated Press)

VERSAILLES, France – A French court is deciding whether bank Societe Generale shared responsibility with a convicted former trader for huge losses reported in 2008 and should be deprived of billions in damages.

An appeals court in Versailles, outside Paris, rules Friday on whether to uphold, quash or cut the 4.9 billion-euro ($5.5 billion) amount of civil damages that trader Jerome Kerviel was initially ordered to pay to his former employer.

The prosecutor has asked the judges to throw out the damages altogether. If the court follows his arguments, it would be a stinging defeat for the bank after years of legal battle.

In one of the biggest ever trading fraud cases, Kerviel was sentenced to three years in prison for nearly bringing down the bank with dubious financial operations.