Bnp Arm Fined For Profit Cover-Up

The Securities and Futures Authority has also suspended for two years, and fined, two former senior managers of BNP Capital Markets in London, including Bernard Poignant, who was the managing director BNP's capital markets arm.

Although the incident did not involve losses to customers, it is among the most serious upsets involving the senior executive officer of a firm -the SFA's term for the highest-ranking person in a regulated firm. It also marks a severe warning to traders and managers in other firms against smoothing profits and losses falsely.

The volatility of trading profits means that investment banking traders have strong incentives to smooth earnings. Poignant, who has left BNP, and Jacques Cacheux, former finance director, were fined