Stocks, Ubs | featured news

The trial of a former trader accused of causing the largest unauthorised loss in British history - £1.4bn at UBS - will start later.

UBS is sitting on losses that could be as high as $350 million stemming from its investment in the Facebook initial public offering, and is preparing legal action against Nasdaq as a result, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Swiss banking giant UBS said Thursday that a rogue trader has caused it an estimated loss of $2 billion, stunning a beleaguered banking industry that has proven vulnerable to unauthorized trades. Police in London said they arrested a 31-year-old UBS trader, Kweku Adoboli, in the alleged fraud. UBS declined to confirm his name.

The former chief executive of American International Group Inc, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, reached a deal to sell most of the shares he holds in the insurer to a unit of Swiss bank UBS.