France and Germany are seeking a unified European position on US banking sanctions, a German spokesman said yesterday, though Paris denied a report it was pushing for a G20 meeting of world leaders later this year to challenge the sanctions.
The French Finance Ministry said it was instead seeking support from EU partners to bolster the use of the euro in international business as a way of reducing the potentially very costly exposure of European firms to US sanctions law.
The so-called extra-territoriality of US sanctions law, which apply to foreign firms carrying out transactions in US dollars even if the operations involve non-US branches, allowed US authorities to fine French lender BNP Paribas nearly $9 billion last month.
