The US authorities and financial regulators are investigating illegal operations of two largest banks. The investigations into BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse have come to a critical point, with top executives of each making the rounds in Washington and New York to try to stave off criminal charges against their banks. The US officials appeared to balk at the appeals, challenging broader public concerns that banks have grown so important to the economy that they are effectively "too big to jail". According to people briefed on the talks, the financial corporations disagree with the position of the prosecutors and are asking them to review a guilty plea. France’s conglomerate BNP has been under investigation since 2012 for doing business with countries under U.S. sanction, such as Iran and Sudan, from 2002 to 2009. The bank has set aside about $1.6bn for expected fines to avoid revoking its US license. At the same time, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse is being scrutinized for helping wealthy Americans shelter their money from taxes. Manipulations of its employees helped over 22,000 rich citizens evade taxes from 2002 to 2008. According to a report of the US congressmen, the economy lost about $12 billion from these actions. The prosecutors proved Credit Suisse created subsidiaries for its US clients in offshore zones, aiding tax evasion. All deals were concluded at amounts which were smaller than $10,000 thus they were out of control by tax agencies. However, now the secret transactions of the bankers can turn to be serious financial losses and punishments.