French banks are considering legal action over a series of rumors that have rocked their shares this week, the French Banking Federation said on Friday.

Given the unfounded rumors which have persistently circulated on the markets, the French banks are examining other options available to them, including legal, the federation said in a statement.

In the same statement, the federation welcomed the decision by France's AMF stock market regulator to ban the short-selling of financial stocks listed in France for a period of 15 days.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Blaise Robinson)

Rumors