All nine defendants in the BAWAG bank were found guilty on Friday in the trial on Austria's biggest banking scandal on Friday, as the bank managers were held responsible for high losses arising from speculative investments.

Former BAWAG CEO Helmut Elsner, 73, and other bank managers were deemed guilty of having hidden losses around 1.7 billion euros (2.7 billion dollars) from off-shore investments between 1995 and 2000.

US-based investor Wolfgang Floettl, 52, had carried out the unsuccessful financial deals in the Caribbean on behalf of Austria's fourth largest bank.

The scandal reverberated beyond the financial sector as the losses of Austria's fourth-biggest bank severely weakened one of its former owners, the Austrian Trade Union Federation.

In December 2006 the ailing BAWAG was sold off to the US-based hedge fund Cerberus.

All nine defendants face prison sentences of up to 10 years, as most of them were accused of breach of confidence and balance sheet fraud.