France Shudders at Bank Bailout of Its Own

As the financial crisis ripples through Europe, France’s banking industry is scrambling to assure investors and customers it will weather the storm, which prompted the country to join in the $9-billion bailout of Belgian-French bank Dexia, reports the Press Association. Dexia's cross-border status amplified the concern, reports the New York Times. “Even if many European banks are more diversified than some American banks that got into trouble, in this business everything is linked,” said one official.

Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday met with banking and insurance officials to assess the weight of the financial crisis and will announce “new measures” by week’s end. (More Dexia stories.)