Madoff under house arrest

Disgraced Wall Street investment manager Bernard Madoff (right), accused of orchestrating a $50 billion fraud, was put under house arrest on Wednesday.

BNP Paribas SA became the latest European bank to reveal its exposure to the scandal, and its stock was the main loser among Europe's top banks, as the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission again answered questions about why the alleged fraud went on for a decade.

A federal judge ordered Madoff, 70, confined to his $7 million Manhattan apartment and told Madoff's wife, Ruth, to surrender her US passport by noon yesterday as part of modified bail conditions.