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French bank finds $7.14 billion fraud By EMMA VANDORE, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago French bank Societe Generale has uncovered a $7.14 billion fraud that, combined with a write-down from its subprime exposure, will force it to seek $8.02 billion in new capital, the bank said. France's second-largest bank by market value after BNP Paribas SA said it detected the fraud at its French markets division the weekend of Jan. 19. A trader at the futures desk had taken "massive fraudulent directional positions in 2007 and 2008 beyond his limited authority," SocGen said. The trader, who was not named,...

PARIS (AP) -- French bank Societe Generale said Thursday it has uncovered a $7.14 billion fraud - one of history's biggest - by a single futures trader who fooled investors and overstepped his authority. The fraud destabilized a major bank already exposed to the subprime crisis. France's second- largest bank by market value said it would be forced to seek $8.02 billion in new capital.

French banking giant Societe Generale is seeking emergency funds after uncovering a "massive" fraud by one of its Paris based traders which has cost the company $7.1 billion (€4.9 billion). The news has shaken the already nervous world banking industry, which is currently in the midst of a credit crunch as high-risk mortgage borrowers default on their loans.

"He finally broke and he walked them through what he had done. "They totted up his losses and by Sunday night they worked out that the losses were about £1.2 billion. The bank's bosses decided it had to cancel the bets immediately when the markets opened on Monday. "They started unwinding them on Monday morning - but because the market was failing the £1.2 billion loss became a £3.7 billion loss." Some senior City figures said the "positions" were so huge that dumping them on one day could have been enough to trigger Monday's stock market meltdown, the worst since...

PARIS -- Massive fraud by a rogue trader at Societe Generale SA has led to a €4.9 billion ($7.16 billion) write-down and is roiling markets as far away as Asia and further shaking investor confidence in Europe's biggest banks. The bank, France's second largest after BNP Paribas SA, revealed early Thursday that it had detected a case of "exceptional fraud" due to a single trader who had concealed enormous losses through a scheme of "elaborate fictitious transactions." The bank identified the trader as Jerome Kerviel. Mr. Kerviel, 31, joined Societe Generale in August 2000 and was working as a trader...

AFP/File Photo: The UN-appointed panel probing the scandal-tainted oil-for-food program for Iraq, headed by Paul Volcker, seen... Slideshow: Oil-for-Food Corruption Probe Video AP Video By NICK WADHAMS and EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writers 39 minutes ago NEW YORK - A formerUnited Nations procurement officer pleaded guilty Monday to soliciting a bribe under the oil-for-food program, making him the first U.N. official to face criminal charges in connection with the scandal-tainted operation. Alexander Yakovlev, a Russian, also pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud and money laundering for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes...