Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Paris drunk: Got 50,000 euros? I'm no banker

PARIS (Reuters) - A drunk broke off his rendition of a Charles Aznavour song to ask rush-hour Paris commuters for 50,000 euros (37,109 pounds) on Wednesday, inspired by the scale of the trading scandal at French bank Societe Generale.

"Got five euros sir? No? Maybe 50,000 euros then. I'm not a banker. I'd bet it on the horse-races," said the drunk, who got no money but plenty of laughs.

Societe Generale's board met on Wednesday with the job of chairman Daniel Bouton on the line after the bank announced a trading loss of 4.9 billion euros, which it blamed on a 31-year-old who bet a total of 50 billion on share markets.

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