Goldman Sachs and Citi Shift to Remote Work Following Foiled Paris Bomb Attack

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup sent employees in Paris to work remotely on Thursday after a foiled bomb attack on Bank of America's Paris headquarters the previous Saturday, as French authorities investigated suspected links to a pro-Iranian group. Goldman Sachs authorized its Paris staff to work from home, according to a source familiar with the matter, while Citigroup extended the precaution to employees in both Paris and Frankfurt. The Goldman Sachs Paris headquarters was placed under police surveillance following threats of destruction by explosive devices attributed to an Iranian group, according to reporting by BFMTV and Le Parisien. The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed on Thursday that no suspicious objects had been found at the Goldman Sachs site.

Foiled Bank of America attack used France's most powerful improvised device The incident triggering the security measures took place during the night of Friday to Saturday, March 28, 2026, when a 17-year-old placed a homemade explosive device outside Bank of America's Paris offices on rue de la Boétie and was preparing to ignite it with a lighter before being intercepted by a police patrol. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office described the device as the most powerful of its kind ever identified in France. It consisted of a five-liter gasoline canister taped to a pyrotechnic charge containing a 650 (grams) — active-material cylinder in the explosive device and was assessed as capable of generating a powerful fireball several meters in diameter, prosecutors said. Four suspects — three teenagers aged 16 and 17, and one adult — were placed in formal judicial investigation on charges including criminal terrorist conspiracy, manufacture and transport of an explosive device, and attempted destruction linked to a terrorist enterprise. All four denied any terrorist intent, according to prosecutors.

France has faced a sustained series of terrorism-related incidents linked to foreign state actors and proxy groups over recent years. The foiled Bank of America attack follows a pattern of improvised explosive device plots that French authorities say also occurred in the Netherlands and Belgium, using similar artisanal devices and a practice of filming and claiming responsibility. The current investigation is being handled by the PNAT, which was established specifically to centralize anti-terrorism prosecutions in France.

Adult recruiter paid teenagers 500 to 1,000 euros each Investigators established that the adult suspect recruited the three teenagers to plant and film the device, paying each between , according to prosecutors. French authorities, including Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, publicly suspected the involvement of a pro-Iranian group identified as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, known by the acronym HAYI. The group published a video on March 23, 2026, specifically naming Bank of America's Paris headquarters, five days before the attack. Prosecutors noted, however, that the link between HAYI and the attack had not yet been formally established. Goldman Sachs reportedly received an email from American authorities recommending heightened vigilance in the face of threats from an Iranian group intending to target buildings with explosives, according to Le Parisien.

„I am making the link because the violent action of a terrorist nature foiled during the night from Friday to Saturday was in every way similar to those that occurred in the Netherlands and in Belgium with an explosive, improvised, artisanal device and this desire to film, to claim responsibility.” — Laurent Nuñez via Franceinfo

Citigroup cites employee safety as top priority amid wider alert Citigroup framed its decision to move staff to remote work as a precautionary measure, with a spokesperson stating that employee safety was the bank's top priority and that necessary steps were being taken to ensure their protection. The measures at Citigroup covered both its Paris and Frankfurt offices, making it the broadest geographic response among the affected banks. French police also established increased surveillance around American financial institutions and sites linked to the Jewish community across French territory, according to Le Parisien, reflecting a broader security posture rather than a response to a single isolated threat. The Paris prosecutor's office declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. The formal judicial investigation opened by the PNAT covers charges of criminal terrorist conspiracy and attempted destruction in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with the case referred to investigating judges for further proceedings.