Dexia in 2008 Operated as ‘Hedge Fund,’ Chairman Says

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Dexia SA Chairman Jean-Luc Dehaene said the bank, bailed out in 2008, functioned as a hedge fund at the time of its first rescue.

Following a 2008 analysis of the company’s operations, Chief Executive Officer Pierre Mariani told the chairman that “this isn’t a bank, it is a hedge fund,” Dehaene said today on a conference call from Brussels.

Both Dehaene and Mariani took their current positions after Dexia got a bailout from France and Belgium in 2008.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Fabio Benedetti-Valentini at fabiobv@bloomberg.net