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French and German banks could bear brunt of a Greece default

French and German banks could be dealt severe damage to their balance sheets because of high exposure to Greek debt

As global financial markets eye Greece's mounting fiscal woes on Wednesday, analysts warn that some German and French banks could incur billions of euros in earnings losses and write-downs given their high exposure to Greek debt.

French banks would be dealt a "severe" blow by a default on Greece's debt, even if their underlying book value would remain in tact, said Dirk Hoffmann-Becking of Sanford C. Bernstein.

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