None, however, matches the locale of their June 12 meeting: a police station in Paris's 13th arrondissement, where each arrived by limousine to be grilled for nearly 30 hours by the Brigade de Recherche et d'Investigation Financière, about alleged tax evasion at a former Axa subsidiary. Bébéar, 65, and de Castries, 46, spent the night in a cell with several Yugoslavians suspected of money laundering. "That was unfortunate and was due to space constraints," says Etienne Durand, head of the BRIF, whose officers bought the financiers sandwiches but no wine (in keeping with regulations).

Bébéar, who still heads Axa's supervisory board, and de Castries, his successor as CEO, were brought in under the garde á vue procedure, which gives police the right to hold anyone without formal charge for a short period. "We had a lot of questions to ask them, so we got a prolongation from a judge," says Durand. Examining magistrate Dominique de Talancé put the two under formal investigation for "aggravated money laundering" before releasing them.

At issue is whether former Axa subsidiary PanEuropeanLife marketed life insurance policies intended to encourage tax avoidance. Axa acquired PEL in 1996 when it purchased Union des Assurances de Paris, but sold the insurer two years later, ostensibly because it didn't fit Axa's strategy.

The investigation is a public relations liability for Bébéar in particular - he's spearheading Paris's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. "If I was not absolutely certain that I bear no responsibility for the allegations against me, I would never accept to continue my [Olympic] mission," he avows. De Castries likewise maintains his innocence. A spokesman for Axa says, "It is contrary to the principles of French law to hold the executives of a parent company responsible for the actions of a downstream subsidiary like PEL, which had management independence."

Still, the two titans of French finance held up well during their jailhouse ordeal. "They were very courteous and did not complain," says Durand.