The Sunday Telegraph reports that Serageldin has vowed to fight a request by US authorities to have him sent back over allegations that he hid huge losses on mortgage-backed securities.
Serageldin is accused of falsely valuing bonds during the financial crisis in order to cover up losses. When the alleged fraud was uncovered by Credit Suisse, the bank reported that the value of the mortgage-backed securities had been overvalued by $540m.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that proposed rules to curb French banks' risky trading will go further than anywhere else in Europe and will make it harder for them to lend, Credit Agricole's chief executive told the daily Les Echos newspaper.
The comments came as Les Echos reported on Monday that lending to hedge funds and private equity will be part of the risky activities French banks will have to house in a separate entity from July 2015.
'The banking reform proposals currently have no equal anywhere in Europe', said Jean-Paul Chifflet, head of Credit Agricole and also of the French Banking Federation lobby group.
Finally, Bloomberg reports that Pictet & Cie., Switzerland’s biggest closely held bank, said its wealth-management business with American clients is the subject of a 'general inquiry' by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Pictet plans to cooperate 'as fully as possible' with the U.S. authorities, the Geneva-based private bank said in a statement Saturday. 'Pictet has made it a priority to ensure that its business with U.S. clients complies with all the relevant laws and regulations governing its conduct'.
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