The alleged fraud perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street veteran and former chairman of US exchange Nasdaq, looks set to cost a host of financial institutions, high net worth individuals and charities hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Madoff's Ponzi scheme is the second high-profile securities fraud this year, following that of Société Générale derivatives trader Jérôme Kerviel in January. Financial News profiles some of the most notorious, and most damaging, financial losses of recent years.

Société Générale: 2008: €4.9bn ($6.7bn)