France, US buckle up for legal battle over Executive Life

PARIS (AFP) — France and the United States were poised to fight a court battle in the Executive Life affair after California prosecutors failed to reach a settlement with French business tycoon Francois Pinault.

The French government rejected any accord that did not include all French parties involved in the scandal -- including Pinault and his holding company Artemis.

The collapse of settlement talks late Tuesday left the French government resigned to face a potentially costly trial after months of delicate negotiations.

French government spokesman Francois Cope said: "The Prime Minister (Jean-Pierre Raffarin) believes that if there must be a trial, there will be a trial."

On Tuesday US prosecutors, left exasperated by months of fruitless talks, said they would pursue a criminal probe into then-public French bank Credit Lyonnais' purchase of US insurer Executive Life, opening the way for criminal charges to be filed against the French parties and possibly ...