UBS sinks on rogue trader loss

(Reuters) - Shares in Swiss bank UBS drop 6 percent in heavy volumes after the lender says an unauthorized trading by one of its traders has caused a loss of some $2 billion.

"The $2 billion loss compares to our current estimate for the (third-quarter) group net earnings of 1.1 billion Swiss francs and (full-year estimated) net earnings of 5.1 billion Swiss francs," Espirito Santo Investment Bank analyst Andrew Lim says in a note.

"The loss is therefore manageable at the group level, but is obviously not helpful for sentiment and confidence in the bank's risk management following the near-death experience of 2008/9."

Shares in French bank Societe Generale fall as much as 4.4 percent, before trimming losses and trading down 1.4 percent as the news revives the French bank's loss of 4.9 billion euros in unwinding one of its traders' unauthorized trading positions in 2008.