French President Francois Hollande is facing increasing pressure from constituents to stand up to President Obama with the aim of getting the US to back off of potentially fining the French banking giant BNP Paribas upwards of $10-billion USD.
After the recent Euro elections, there’s a real stirring of French nationalism. The fine is becoming more about “us vs them” than usual.
If this results in a guilty plea, it is likely to increase debate in France and the rest of Europe about the essential fairness of U.S. criminal procedures,” said Frederick T. Davis, a lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in Paris
It’s not completely unfair criticism. What banks are made to plead guilty and fined billions of dollars? – Credit Suisse and maybe BNP Paribas. I’m not sure I see the purpose or resulting fruit of forcing these guilty pleas. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there haven’t been crimes committed but when it’s always been about collecting the fine where did the sudden push for guilty pleas spring up from? What’s the motivation?
(Speculation on a slow afternoon after a morning of ISM insanity. Consider it a palate cleanser before tonight’s big data points!)
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