The tip of the hat in the Wall Street Journal for French banks
"French banks and their regulator have masterfully maneuvered the Americans." This statement should be read in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal and refers to the fall of 2008, were negotiated when the unwinding of derivative contracts of credit (CDS) which the insurer AIG, the drift was the counterparty. At the time these CS were loose at full price, without discount.
Societe Generale was the big winner of the transaction with a cash inflow of 16.5 billion dollars (with no impact on the income statement), followed by Goldman Sachs (14 billion). Calyon, sixth on the list, hit 4.3 billion.
According to the WSJ, the French banks supported their argument by the Banking Commission, have argued with AIG and the New York Fed that they could negotiate a possible discount, under pain of criminal responsibility and that leaders committed their business card .
Today, the WSJ has questioned the legal merits of this argument would have to fly the United States. And behind the tribute to the skill of French in this case, the business daily U.S. gives ammunition to the many critics of the current U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Patron of the New York Fed at the time of the rescue of AIG, is now itself challenged in Congress for his handling of the case, one of the most expensive of the financial crisis for the American taxpayer.