The chairman of BNP Paribas has resigned, some three months after the French bank was hit by a record $8.9 billion fine for violating U.S. sanctions, the bank said.

Baudoin Prot, 63, who has headed the bank since 2011, was stepping down as of December 1 "for personal reasons," the bank said in a statement following a meeting of the board late on Friday.

The U.S. economy's bounce-back last quarter from a dismal winter was even faster than previously thought, a sign that growth will likely remain solid for rest of the year.

The economy as measured by gross domestic product grew at a 4.6 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the fastest pace in more than two years and higher than the government's previous estimate of 4.2 percent.

The Venezuelan government announced Friday it was temporarily taking control of a Clorox factory, after the U.S.-based firm said this week it was leaving the country and selling its assets.

Vice President Jorge Arreaza was accompanied by a dozen workers as he entered the plant with the slogan "Chavez lives, the struggle continues," in reference to late president Hugo Chavez.

Air France's main pilots' union offered to lift its crippling strike late Friday if an independent mediator were named to run negotiations in a bitter battle over the fate of the company's low-cost subsidiary.

The SNPL union, in what it called a "gesture of appeasement", said it was "ready to end the conflict as soon as this mediator is named" by the government.

U.S. semi-conductor maker Intel said Friday it will invest $1.5 billion in two Chinese cell phone part companies.

The California firm said it would acquire a 20 percent stake in a holding company that owns Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics, according to an Intel statement.

The longest ever strike by Air France pilots dragged into its 12th day on Friday after marathon talks again failed to break a deadlock over the airline's low-cost subsidiary.

"The situation is blocked right now," said Julien Duboz, a spokesman for one of the pilot's unions SPAF said after talks ended on Thursday.

Consumer confidence in Germany is fading, weighed down by concerns about the economic fallout from geopolitical crises, a new poll found on Friday.

"In the eyes of consumers, ongoing geopolitical tensions are now also threatening to affect the economy in Germany. And it has led to a drop in optimism," market research company GfK said in a statement.

Oil prices were mixed in Asia Friday as dealers focused on conflict-wracked Ukraine and U.S.-led airstrikes against jihadists in the Middle East, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose two cents to $92.55 while Brent crude for November eased three cents to $96.97 in afternoon trade.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Thursday he is not particularly happy about the European Central Bank's plans to buy up asset-backed securities on a large scale.

Speaking to the lower house of German parliament or Bundestag at the start of a debate on Europe's new banking union laws, Schaeuble expressed reservations about the ECB's asset purchase plans.

Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Philip Hampton is stepping down to take up the same position at British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline, the companies announced on Thursday.

Hampton, who during his more than five years as chairman has helped to guide the bailed-out bank through its recovery following a government rescue, will join GSK in the wake of a Chinese corruption scandal at the drugs firm.