PARIS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Natixis has been placed under formal investigation in France regarding statements the company released at the start of the global subprime crisis in 2007, the bank said on Wednesday.
"Natixis announces that it has today been placed under formal investigation in France, in the context of a magistrate led investigation process opened in 2010 relating to two announcements released in the second half of 2007, at the start of the subprime crisis," the company said.
"Natixis considers that it provided to the public, in good faith, the information available to it about its exposure, and as and when any underlying risks were identified," it added.
In 2010, France's AMF financial market watchdog said it was investigating Natixis to determine whether the French bank concealed losses in late 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.
Natixis had to be rescued from a near-collapse during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 by its cooperative retail-banking parent BPCE.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Andrew Callus)