French police today arrested an employee from the trading room of Société Générale as part of their investigation into the Jérôme Kerviel rogue trading scandal.

Police arrested a former colleague of Mr Kerviel, but his identify has not been revealed. The person arrested is believed to be among one of Mr Kerviel’s friends listed on his Facebook profile.

A spokeswoman for Société Générale said that police had searched the bank’s trading room this morning and took one person away for questioning. Some records were also taken away by officers.

The bank’s spokesman said that the employee works in the equities trading room at Société Générale’s headquarters, while a judicial source said that the person is employed by a unit of the French bank.

According to the source, police are seeking to establish whether the broker may have helped Mr Kerviel place tens of billions of euros in unauthorised deals at the bank.

In January, Société Générale unveiled €4.9 billion of losses that the bank blamed on rogue deals carried out by Mr Kerviel, a 31-year old junior trader at the bank.

He has been placed under formal investigation for breach of trust, computer abuse and falsification and remains in custody in a Paris prison.

The person arrested was not the man who worked for Société Générale subsidiary Fimat, now called Newedge, and who was previously named as an “assisted witness” in the case.

The losses incurred by Mr Kerviel have made Société Générale a possible bid target. La Tribune reported today that BNP Paribas, the French bank, could set out terms for any offer for its embattled rival in May.

The newspaper said that BNP “could advance its terms” for a bid a few days before Société Générale’s annual meeting on May 27. BNP will hold its annual meeting on May 21.

A BNP Paribas spokesman would not comment on the report.

Times Recommends

• Food prices rise 8.3% on soaring fish and meat
• Car sales crash as economy hits skids
• House prices fall but Bank leaves rates on hold