Reports due into SocGen scandal

Societe Generale is set to publish two reports into what went wrong during a trading scandal uncovered at the beleaguered French firm.

Rogue trades discovered earlier this year cost the firm 4.9bn euros ($7.7bn; £3.9bn) and cut into its profits for 2007, down 82% from 2006.

One of the reports has been compiled by three independent directors. The other is by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Early findings suggested that trader Jerome Kerviel acted alone.

The bank has said that Mr Kerviel began trading without authorisation in 2005, using modest amounts, but later built up bets worth about 50bn euros.

The preliminary report by independent directors is also expected to say that the bank missed 75 warnings.

The reports, due at 1600GMT, come ahead of SocGen's annual shareholder meeting next week.

Earlier this month, chief executive Daniel Bouton stepped down as the bank tried to rebuild its damaged reputation.

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