U.S. Requests Extradition of 4 French Executives in Cr?dit Lyonnais Case and France Refuses Settlement Offer

After achieving a settlement with Cr?dit Lyonnais resulting from their purchase of Executive Life, a California insurance company, on October 7, 2003 the United States issued extradition orders for four finance executives of the same company. U.S. authorities received $585 million from the French government to settle claims from the acquisition, but the negotiation did not include individual liabilities or civil cases. Executive Life collapsed in 1991 following a sharp fall in its investments, enabling French investors to purchase the company while Cr?dit Lyonnais purchased the junk bonds. Investigators discovered that the investors were operating as a front for the French bank, which was prohibited by California laws that preclude banks or foreign companies from owning insurance agencies. Both the French investors and employees of Cr?dit Lyonnais are subject to both federal inquiries regarding wire fraud, mail fraud and false reporting to the Federal Reserve, and civil cases led by the California insurance commissioner for billions of dollars. On October 16, 2003, French authorities refused the extradition order on the basis that France does not extradite its citizens. One of the targets of the civil suits, billionaire Fran?ois Pinault, is a personal friend of Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.