Second SocGen Broker Held in Kerviel Probe

Authorities have taken a second Societe Generale employee into custody and conducted a search of La Defense headquarters, as the probe into unauthorized securities trading that cost the French bank $7.6 billion expands, reports Bloomberg. Police are holding a broker from a bank subsidiary, said a SocGen spokeswoman. Another broker was taken into custody, questioned, and released last month.

Lawyers for Jerome Kerviel, held by police since January for allegedly hacking SocGen’s computers and falsifying documents while trading huge amounts of SocGen’s money, are trying to get their client out of jail. A hearing is set for Friday; they charge that the "new accomplice" is a ploy to keep him in custody. In a report released last month, independent board members said the bank's internal security ignored more than 75 warnings on Kerviel’s trades. (More SocGen stories.)