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GOODYEAR

‘Extremist’ US CEO ‘bids to save French factory’

A US tycoon has reportedly made an offer to invest in a doomed French tyre factory, just months after he ridiculed the workers for being lazy and talking all day. The bid by Titan's Maurice Taylor would save 300 jobs, a French minister claimed.

'Extremist' US CEO 'bids to save French factory'
US CEO of Titan Maurine Taylor (left) and French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg.

Almost eight months after an extraordinary bust-up that saw Maurice Taylor, the CEO of US tyre giant Titan and France’s Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg embroiled in a slanging match, it appears the pair have buried the hatchet.

Taylor made headlines around the world in February when, in response to a plea from Montebourg to invest in a failing Goodyear tyre plant in Amiens, he responded in a letter to the minister: "How stupid do you think we are?"

But it appears relations may have thawed and Taylor has had a change of heart, or that's according to the French minister anyway.

Montebourg announced on Monday that Titan has now made an offer to invest in the doomed Goodyear factory, which he believes will guarantee just over jobs at the factory for four years.

The French minister, who previously warned Taylor that he was "not the right person to cross swords with” said Titan will invest around $100 million, at least $40 million at the Amiens factory. 

According to the French press the investment would only come into effect if the planned redundancies are carried out.

There has been no confirmation of this offer by Titan bosses however.

Goodyear said in January it was set to close the plant, which employs 1,173 workers, following five years of failed talks with unions.

The apparent new bid, comes a year after Titan had made a similar offer to invest in Goodyear before eventually withdrawing it, Le Parisien reports on Monday. It was then that relations soured and Taylor wrote his infamous letter in which he mocked French workers for only putting in "three-hours a day work, and talkin for four".

That war of words continued for some weeks with Montebourg calling Taylor "extremist";

CGT union chief Michael Wamen also said Taylor's letter "shows that this CEO, of a multinational company, is more suited to being in a psychiatric hospital than leading a company like this."

Referring to that letter on Monday, Montebourg said he had made it clear to Taylor that the letter “was extremely detrimental to France and that I did not appreciate that he spoke ill of people who only want to work.”

But he said Titan's bid was "solid".

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BANKING

US hits French banking giant BNP with $246 million fine

US regulators have fined French banking giant BNP Paribas $246 million for the bad behaviour of its traders.

US hits French banking giant BNP with $246 million fine
Photo: AFP

US regulators on Monday fined French banking giant BNP Paribas $246 million for poor oversight of its foreign exchange traders who manipulated trading prices.

The move came six months after the Federal Reserve permanently barred former BNP trader Jason Katz from the banking industry, for manipulating foreign exchange prices.

“The firm failed to detect and address that its traders used electronic chatrooms to communicate with competitors about their trading positions,” the Fed said in a statement.

“The Board's order requires BNP Paribas to improve its senior management oversight and controls relating to the firm's FX trading,” the statement said.

BNP said the misconduct occurred between 2007 and 2013 the company has taken steps to strengthen oversight.

“BNP Paribas deeply regrets the past misconduct which was a clear breach of the high standards on which the Group operates,” the company said in a statement.

The Fed also blocked BNP from ever re-hiring any of the former employees involved the incidents, the central bank said.

New York State's Department of Financial Services in May fined BNP $350 million for the same case, accusing traders of “collusive activity” to manipulate currency prices.

The fine also follows the Fed decision in April to fine Germany's Deutsche Bank more than $150 million for similar “unsafe and unsound” foreign exchange trading practices.