■ BANKING
Broker quizzed over Kerviel
French police questioned a share broker yesterday over links to rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, whose 4.8 billion euro (US$7.1 billion) losses nearly brought Societe Generale (SocGen) bank to its knees, justice officials said. The broker was detained on Thursday when police also raided a trading firm linked to SocGen, the sources said. The man, who has not been named but works at the Fimat brokerage, is suspected of being aware of Kerviel's unauthorized trading, Le Monde reported. Many of Kerviel's transactions on the European stock market are believed to have passed via Fimat, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SocGen that specializes in the derivatives which Kerviel traded in. Two days before SocGen's losses were revealed on Jan. 24, Fimat was merged with another broker subsidiary, Calyon. The new firm is called Newedge.
■ GEMS
De Beers sales drop 3.7%
De Beers has posted a 3.7 percent fall in natural rough diamond sales for last year to US$5.92 billion due to tighter supplies. Jewelry demand last year was healthy, but the outlook for this year was uncertain, it said yesterday. "The economic conditions in the US could continue to impact consumer diamond jewelry sales through the first half particularly at the lower end," De Beers said.
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