Not only were it and Soc Gen the biggest counterparties, but Goldman originated several of the deals, which happen to have been held by Soc Gen.

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Hmm, that is not what Soc Gen said in August, and even a short sale ban in place the French banks are taking a hammering today!

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France's Soc Gen and BNP Paribas, Germany's Deutsche and Commerzbank, and Italy's Unicredit would collectively be short of many tens of billions of euros of capital.

BBC: EU banks may raise ?200bn

Soc-Gen was off more than 15.5% Wednesday morning, Santander and BBVA more than 9% apiece.

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