Madoff Ponzi pyramid scheme

In Switzerland, Geneva private banks could lose up to five billion dollars (3.7 billion euros) in the scam, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported.

Meanwhile Britain’s HSBC declined to comment on a report in the Financial Times that it had potential exposure of 1.5 billion dollars.

Top world financial groups on Monday revealed massive potential losses from an alleged scam run by Wall Street trader Bernard Madoff, admitting they were fooled by a classic pyramid investment fraud.