Executives at Societe Generale, a Paris based bank, reported that they had uncovered a massive fraud perpetrated by a trader who acted alone. Detected over the weekend, the trader had misled investors in 2007 and 2008 through a “scheme of elaborate fictitious transactions.” The total fraud was $7.14 billion.
Already suffering from subprime-related difficulties, Societe Generale’s shares were suspended from trading Thursday morning. Trading resumed midday and shares dropped more than five percent.