Police widen SocGen probe

A French inquiry into a record €4.9 billion trading loss at Société Générale widened to a second broker yesterday as investigators sought to establish whether rogue trader Jerome Kerviel acted alone.

The news emerged as a court prepared to rule on whether Kerviel, the 31-year-old trader blamed by Société Générale for huge unauthorised dealings, should be taken into custody.

A legal source familiar with the matter said police were questioning a trader at a brokerage that executed orders on behalf of Mr Kerviel. The source said an initial 24-hour detention period had been extended by another day.

The brokerage is a SocGen subsidiary formerly known as Fimat but renamed this year as Newedge after it merged with Calyon Financial. The brokerage's offices were raided by police on Thursday.

If the investigation establishes that others were involved in Mr Kerviel's illicit trades, prosecutors may have new grounds to press fraud charges.