France plans stock options ban -papers

PARIS, March 30 (Reuters) - The French government is set to ban companies receiving state aid from awarding stock options to bosses until the end of 2010, newspapers said on Monday.

Bonuses will be permitted but only in limited amounts, Le Figaro said.

No-one in the finance minister's office or the prime minister's office could immediately be reached to comment.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon's office had said last week he would present a decree relating to executive pay to parliament at 1345 GMT, but gave no detail on what the decree would contain.

Les Echos said the decree will affect banks which have received aid from France's government, but not those which were helped by a strategic investment fund (FSI) created last November to stop key companies from being swallowed by the crisis.

The fund's first investment was in struggling car parts maker Valeo (VLOF.PA), which had drawn ire after its outgoing head was reportedly awarded a 3.2 million euro ($4.29 million) "golden parachute".

However, France considers the issue of golden parachutes sufficiently covered by existing laws, the paper added.

The decree will also involve firms which have not received government aid, but which are laying off a significant number of employees or cutting working hours.

There was public outrage in France earlier this month after it emerged that executives at Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) had awarded themselves hundreds of thousands of stock options despite having recently received state funding.

Societe Generale quickly backed down. The economic crisis has fuelled public anger in France over perceived corporate excesses. (Reporting by Sophie Taylor; Editing by David Holmes)