Banker Pleads Guilty in Executive Life Case

Jean-Francois Henin, former head of Credit Lyonnais’ Altus Finance unit, pleaded guilty to causing the French bank to lie to U.S. regulators during the 1991 takeover of Los Angeles-based Executive Life Insurance Co.

Henin agreed to pay a $1-million fine and was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles to five years’ probation, during which he won’t be allowed to enter the United States, the U.S. attorney’s office said Monday.

He was charged with four counts of causing Credit Lyonnais to make false statements. Henin was managing director of Altus, Lyonnais’ investment unit, when the bank illegally used front companies to buy Executive Life’s insurance business and junk bond portfolio.