French corporate finance chiefs vet bank risks and exposure -lobby

PARIS (Reuters) - Corporate finance directors are scrutinising who they bank with in the wake of recent market tensions but there is no rush for the exit for now, France's corporate treasury association said on Tuesday.

Investor confidence in the European banking sector has taken a hit recently after the Swiss government-orchestrated takeover of troubled Credit Suisse earlier this month by rival UBS and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States.

The head of France's Association Française des Trésoriers d'Entreprise, Daniel Biarneix, said that while the immediate fallout of the market turmoil had been to make the refinancing conditions more "complicated", firms were also checking their cash was spread around to limit exposure to any one bank.

"Even if the tensions around SVB or Credit Suisse are far removed from the concerns of most French treasurers, companies are conducting precise and detailed analysis of bank counterparty risks," Biarneix told a news conference.

He added there was no sign of companies transferring funds in mass from one bank to another.

Many French companies made sure they had ample funding when interest rates were at record lows in recent years and are now sitting on piles of cash, which treasurers generally keep at various banks to diversify counterparty risks.

While rising interest rates made it costlier for firms to refinance debts, it was good news for those holding cash who could earn more interest, Biarneix said.

Since most debt was at fixed rates, the rise in interest rates would be felt only gradually, which limited the risk of a refinancing crunch in the coming years, he said.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)