BNP, Crédit Agricole Cited in Panama Papers--Report

By Noemie Bisserbe

PARIS--French banks BNP Paribas SA and Crédit Agricole SA helped wealthy customers park money in offshore shell companies set up by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co., according to a new report citing a leaked trove of confidential documents.

A cache of documents, now known as the Panama Papers, reveal that Crédit Agricole used the services of Mossack Fonseca set up 1,129 firms in tax havens since the 1990s, of which 54 are still active, French daily Le Monde reported Wednesday. The sole purpose of most of these firms is to manage bank accounts, adds the report.

Crédit Agricole said in a statement that it had stopped setting up offshore accounts for its customers in 2015, and that the Le Monde report was "misleading." It added that the bank "applied strictly anti-money-laundering rules" and "systematically alerted relevant authorities" in case it suspected any wrong doing.

BNP Paribas, France's largest-listed bank by assets, also worked with the Panamanian firm to set up 468 firms for its clients since the 1980s, according to the report. Only 6 of these accounts are still active today. However, the documents showed the BNP Paribas worked with other law firms in Panama, suggesting many more of its clients may hold offshore accounts, it added.

A spokesman for BNP Paribas declined to comment.

French banks are under intense pressure to convince regulators and law makers they are doing everything in their power to ensure clients aren't using offshore accounts for money laundering or to avoid taxes.

On Wednesday, Société Générale Chief executive Frédéric Oudéa was summoned by law makers in the French Senate after media reports last month revealed that the bank had worked with Mossack Fonseca to set up several hundred offshore shell companies.

While Société Générale closed down its Panama units in 2012, it still had 66 active offshore client accounts linked to the Panamanian law firm at the end of March, said the bank.

"For us, these accounts are in compliance with tax rules," said Mr. Oudéa.

"No offshore wealth company registered in Panama has been opened using Mossack Fonseca since 2012 with the exception of one company which was closed three months after its creation," he added.

Write to Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2016 12:07 ET (16:07 GMT)

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