Last week we had a snigger when we learned that Goldman Sachs had arranged a deal in 2008, just before banks shares really tanked, for the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) to invest in options on a basket of currencies and on six stocks (which included Citi, Santander and UniCredit). Anyway, the value of the investment soon dropped 98%, and Libya's sovereign wealth fund is said to have lost a cool $1.3bn.
The Financial Times has now reported that French bank SocGen is said to have brokered a $1bn transaction on behalf of the LIA at around the same time, which was basically a long punt on SocGen's shares. As at a year ago (and the bank's shares have been essentially flat since then), the deal was recording a loss of over $700m.
One banker joked: 'That's two for two. No wonder Gaddafi's been living in a tent!'.
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