€1.6bn wiped off AIB shares
Allied Irish Banks has seen €1.6bn wiped off its shares since it revealed that one of its US subsidiaries has been the victim of a massive fraud.
However, the panic over the €750m loss is easing.
In Dublin there was an immediate 20% drop in the value of the bank's stock, but it later climbed.
The size of the affair is regarded as potentially serious for the current management of Ireland's biggest bank group - as well as the Allfirst company where the multi-million loss was sustained.
Analysts say comparisons with the Nick Leeson affair are misleading, as there is no realistic danger to the future of the much larger AIB.
But at the same time, they say it will undermine AIB's credibility.
Anne Maher, chief executive of the Irish Pensions Board, says the fraud is "obviously not good news for pension funds, but it is not a cause for panic either".
Diversification of investments means that a fund can't be stricken by one incident.
The trader being sought by officials investigating the fraud has been named as John Rusnak.
Mr Rusnak was not at home when reporters called at his Baltimore house today.
They say he lives in "an enormous house in a leafy suburb".
His wife told reporters that her husband was not there and asked them to leave "a private area."
