Executive Life

"In mid-June 1999, Pierre Godé asked Kroll France to verify if one of Kroll's offices in the United States had worked on the Executive Life Crédit Lyonnais case and if there were any exploitable information regarding François Pinault. This affair has been poisoning Franco-American relations since 1998. It all started with an anonymous denunciation by a French businessman. Crédit Lyonnais is accused of having set up, with the support of MAAF Assurances, a holding system to take over, in 1991, part of the assets of the bankrupt American insurance company Executive Life, particularly its heavily depreciated junk bond portfolio. However, American law at the time prohibited a bank from owning assets in the insurance sector."

"PPR's blockade is due to a sudden veto from François Pinault. He too believes that Arnault is financially struggling. Above all, the use of an internal document in court, which could have been taken from the trash, has made him furious. He now knows where all the information circulating in France and England about Forest Product International, its relationship with John Ryan, and its past and present dealings with the tax authorities comes from. He knows who is stirring the pot in the conflict between France and the United States over the Executive Life file. "I will never sign an agreement with this thug," he tells his colleagues, lawyers, and visitors."