An Italian public prosecutor has put Lazard (LAZ) and Societe Generale (GLE.FR) under investigation in a case about possible market rigging and insider trading in the purchase of a stake in Parmalat SpA (PLT.MI), a person familiar with the case said Thursday.

The prosecutor in Milan has also put Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) under investigation, Intesa Chief Executive Corrado Passera confirmed. People at these three banks are already being investigated.

The prosecutor has launched a probe of the Italian and French banks under an Italian law that provides for direct liability of companies and associations for certain crimes committed by their employees, the person said.

The case concerns the purchase by French dairy products maker Groupe Lactalis SA of a minority stake in Parmalat, its smaller Italian peer, earlier this year.

Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Passera said the investigation of his bank was part of the routine.

"It is automatic," he said on the margins of an event.

"We are convinced that there was no behavior that hurt our interests," he added.

-By Alessandro Mocenni, MF-Dow Jones and Gilles Castonguay, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 02 5821 9908; gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com

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