World's biggest banks fallen victims to Ponzi Scheme

BBC Business reported that some of the world's biggest banks have revealed they are victims of an alleged fraud which has lost $50bn (£33bn). Bernard Madoff has been charged with fraud called a Ponzi Scheme in what is being described as one of the biggest-ever such cases.

Among the banks which have been hit are Britain's HSBC and RBS, Spain's Santander and France's BNP Paribas. Banks and financial institutions across the world had investments with Bernard Madoff, but not all have yet confirmed what their potential losses might be. Maybe there are scared to lose their reputation instead of revealing the truth to their customers.

Among the largest potential losers so far is Spain's largest bank, Santander, which also owns the UK High Street banks Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.

Royal Bank of Scotland said it could potentially lose about £400m ($601m) if all its investments had to be written off.

The French bank, Natixis, a subsidiary of Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire, said it could potentially lose up to 450m euros (£402m; $605m).

One of the world's biggest investment groups, Man, said it had invested about $360m through its RMF institutional fund of funds business, representing 0.5% of its total funds.

MAJOR POTENTIAL LOSSES CAUSED BY MADOFF PONZI SCHEME
- Santander, Spain - $3.1bn
- HSBC, UK - $1bn
- Natixis, France - $605m
- Royal Bank of Scotland, UK - $601m
- BNP Paribas, France - $460m
- BBVA, Spain - $400m
- Man Group, UK - $360m
- Reichmuth & Co, Switzerland - $325m
- Nomura, Japan - $303m


Obvious reaction to this mess:
The collapse of Madoff is likely to accelerate the disappearance of hedge funds - Robert Peston.

Emerging news:
BBC Business: Banks hit worldwide by US 'fraud'
Sydney Morning Herald: HSBC joins top banks with huge losses in US 'pyramid' fraud
USA Today: Victims of alleged Wall Street scam spread to Europe