In the meantime, French regulators quietly set the stage for a new attempt at a negotiated compromise.

German and French regulators are also looking into the trades.

The company said it would wait until the French regulator investigates to decide on further legal action.

French regulators and prosecutors opened their own investigation in July.

The French regulator denied that it had been influenced in any way by the finance ministry.

And French regulators have made it tougher for new competitors to enter the market than their German neighbors did.

French regulators, meanwhile, have taken a markedly more parochial approach.

It would be useful if this French regulator were given a say in the activities of the regulators in the other 26 countries.

I think that, actually, the French regulator is independent - his proposals are testament to that.

French regulators approved the structure of the original deal on Tuesday.