France says strong euro needed to avoid U.S. sanctions probes

A strong euro and greater role for the European currency in international trade is needed to help French banks avoid high U.S. penalties on alleged dealings with countries subject to sanctions, a government official said Thursday.

"The only way to fight effectively against a risk of this sort is to have a strong compensation," Romain Nadal, French foreign ministry spokesperson said.

At a press briefing, Nadal said the sanctions need to be proportion and reciprocal "on the basis the transatlantic partnership which is being discussed with the United States."

Credit Agricole, France's third-largest listed bank, is negotiating an agreement with U.S. authorities to pay a penalty of up to 1 billion U. S. dollars for deals with blacklisted countries such as Iran.

In its half-year financial report, Credit Agricole set aside additional 350 million euros (392.46 million U.S. dollars) for a settlement. In total, it devoted 16 billion euros to litigation,

Punished for alleged dealings with countries subject to sanctions such as Iran, Cuba and Sudan, BNP Paribas, France's biggest bank, in 2014 paid 8.9 billion U.S. dollars in sanction and was banned from conducting certain U.S. dollar transactions for a year. Endit