Judges in Den Bosch have ordered Rabobank to pay back a business customer €1m after saddling the company with a ‘useless’ and extremely risky interest-based derivative.

Ceiling manufacturer Plameco will get back €1,023,093.17 from Rabobank, in what is one of the biggest financial settlements of its kind to date, the Telegraaf reports.

‘The net around the banks is closing in,’ Plameco lawyer Jasper Hagers told the paper. The ruling is a ‘clear rap across the knuckles’ for Rabobank, he said.

Nevertheless, Hagers is considering an appeal because the pay-out does not cover the full amount Plameco has paid to Rabobank, the paper says.

In the years prior to the crisis, some 18,000 companies were advised by banks to use derivatives to cover themselves against potential interest rate rises on loans. Thousands ended up in financial difficulty.