Rogue trader causes 2 bn loss at UBS

The bank provided little information on the incident,saying it was still under investigation. But it said no customer money was affected.

8220;UBS has discovered a loss due to unauthorised trading by a trader in its investment bank,8221; it said in a statement before markets opened.

8220;UBS8217;s current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of USD 2 billion,8221; it added. 8220;It is possible that this could lead UBS to report a loss for the third quarter of 2011.8221;

A spokesman,Yves Kaufmann,declined to say where the unidentified trader was based,and whether the bank had pressed criminal charges against its employee.

Peter Thorne,a London-based equities analyst at Helvea,said the loss was financially manageable for UBS,Switzerland8217;s biggest bank.

But he said it was a blow to the reputation of UBS and its management,which oversaw heavy subprime losses during the financial crisis and an embarrassing US tax evasion case in recent years.