bank

Hostage-taker in French town Le Havre surrenders to police

France — Link

A man reported to be aged 34 and carrying a handgun who on Thursday took six people hostage in a bank in the northern French port town of Le Havre, where former prime minister Édouard Philippe is mayor, surrendered hours later to police and released his captives apparently unharmed.

SocGen faces 2.2 bln tax break refund over its responsibility in 'rogue trader' losses

France — Analysis

In a ruling by the Versailles court of appeal on Friday, French bank Société Générale was found to have been in large part responsible for the 4.9 billion euros in losses attributed to the reckless trades of its so-called “rogue trader” Jérôme Kerviel in 2008. The court ruling concerned Kerviel’s appeal against the damages he was required to pay the bank, which until now was fixed as the entire sum of the losses, and which it reduced to 1 million euros. Mediapart economics and finance correspondent Martine Orange analyses here the many consequences of the ruling, not least of which is the demand that the bank now pay back a 2.2-billion-euro tax break it was granted as a result of the sums lost.

UBS to reveal details of French accounts in tax investigation

France — Link

Swiss banking giant UBS says it has been ordered to hand over client information to French tax authorities amid tax fraud allegations.

Risk officer for Barclays France slams bank's conduct and controls

International — Link

The Financial Times cites April letter by Philippe Hébert who underlines 'particularly poor' control services that leave 'serious risks of money laundering'.

French arm of UBS faces probe into possible witness tampering

France — Link

Investigation by the French authorities into the French section of the Swiss bank follows a complaint by a former employee.

HSBC envisages moving 1,000 jobs to Paris in event of Brexit

International — Link

The bank, which recently announced it is keeping its HQ in London, said global banking and markets staff could move to Paris if UK leaves EU.

French bank chief cleared in conflict of interest case

France — Link

Prosecutors had claimed a conflict of interest when François Perol became head of BPCE bank after being advisor to President Sarkozy.

French court slashes HSBC tax investigation bail to 1 million euros

International — Link

French appeal court reduced the bank's bail from 1 billion euros in relation to a probe into alleged tax evasion and money-laundering activities.

Chairman of French bank to face trial for conflict of interest

France — Link

Court to decide whether appointment of François Pérol as head of BPCE after being President Sarkozy's economic adviser breached rules.

Swiss bank UBS could face five-billion-euro fine in France

International — Link

Bank faces huge penalty if convicted of encouraging wealthy French citizens to set up dual accounts to hide cash in Switzerland.

Rothschild: the story of a bank's intimate relationship with French government

France

The newly-appointed minister of the economy, Emmanuel Macron, is the latest in a series of French politicians going back to the days of President Georges Pompidou who have come to government from the influential Paris-based investment bank Rothschild et Cie. In September 2012, a few months after Macron had become President François Hollande's deputy chief of staff, Mediapart's Martine Orange published a book investigating the power and influence that the Rothschild bank wields because of its position at the junction of French politics and business. Mediapart publishes selected extracts from the book below to shed light both on the new minister and the bank itself, with an introduction by Mediapart's editor François Bonnet.

French bank shuts branches during long summer lull

France — Link

The country's second-biggest listed bank, Societe Generale, 'experiments' with temporary closures as internet banking starts to take hold.

Scandal-hit Vatican bank turns to French financier for redemption

France — Link

Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the former head of Invesco Ltd.’s European business, is to take over running of bank where profits fell by 97%.

France seeks Germany’s support on BNP Paribas case

France — Link

President Hollande talks with Angela Merkel amid fears that 'disproportionate' action against its biggest bank could pose risks to banking system.

French central bank sees recovery struggling to gain momentum

France — Link

Bank of France predicts growth in French economy of just 0.2% in second quarter of 2014, the same as in the first three months of the year.