Things Get Tricky for Trichet and the E.C.B.

Veteran gamblers know not to count their money until the dealing is finished, and now the European Central Bank is learning the same lesson. Jean-Claude Trichet, the governor of Banque de France, was expected to take over the E.C.B. when Wim Duisenberg resigns the presidency next July. But the succession was thrown into confusion last week when a French magistrate ordered Trichet to stand trial for his role in the huge losses at Crédit Lyonnais during the 1990s, when it was still state-owned and he headed the French Treasury....