French Finance Ministry: declines to comment on sharp drops in French bank stocks

France's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday that it had no comment to make regarding sharp drops in the share prices of the country's top banks, as a slump in the share price of Credit Suisse hit Europe's banking sector. BNP Paribas and SocGen were both down by around 10% in mid-session trading, while Credit Agricole also fell 5.8%.

Credit Suisse shares fell to new record lows after its biggest shareholder said it could not raise its 10% stake, citing regulatory issues.