BNP Paribas Loses EUR1.6 Billion In Two Months

Did they leave it on the bus?

Shares in BNP Paribas fell sharply in early trade Wednesday after the firm issued a statement saying that it's investment banking division has lost EUR710 million in the first 11 months of the year.

The bank had previously said that in the first nine months of the year, the same unit had recorded a pretax PROFIT of EUR879 million.

That adds up to a whopping loss of almost EUR1.6 billion in October and November alone!

EUR350 million of that is accounted for by exposure to the Madoff scam, but where has the rest of it been lost? And what are December's figures going to look like?

At 9.30am GMT, shares in BNP Paribas were down 16.71% at 34.44.