French banks to get $13.5 bn

French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to provide a further ¤10.5 billion ($13.5 billion) in aid to the country’s biggest lenders in exchange for their top executives giving up bonuses.

The agreement late Tuesday to channel the extra capital came a day after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced his second rescue plan in three months, underscoring how an initial round of bailouts failed to restore credit.

Sarkozy has been pressuring banks in recent days, saying repeatedly that they shouldn’t pay bonuses to management or dividends to shareholders. Credit Agricole SA and smaller rival Societe Generale SA said yesterday they wouldn’t pay bonuses to their chairmen and chief executives. BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest bank, made a similar announcement last week.

“We ask banks that make a profit to finance the economy” and not reward shareholders, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said.