BNP Paribas’s corporate and investment bank has swung sharply into loss since October, and will make a pre-tax loss of €710m in the first 11 months of the year.

Blaming volatile markets, which had been aggravated by the bankruptcy of Lehman, BNP said on Tuesday that the €710m pre-tax loss included a €350m potential loss from exposure to Madoff funds in December. The rest of the bank had remained profitable in the first 11 months, it added.