U.S. authorities have begun settlement talks with Germany's Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank over their dealings with countries blacklisted by the United States, extending a crackdown on European banks at a delicate point in U.S.-German relations. The talks with state and federal authorities have just begun, a source with direct knowledge of the regulatory investigations told Reuters, and the timing of a deal is unclear. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank declined to comment. Washington has come down hard on European banks that have evaded their sanctions, imposing a record fine on France's BNP Paribas BNPP.PA last week and stoking resentment among bankers and officials at what they see as U.S. imperialism. Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest lender, is 17 percent owned by the German government, and the settlement talks could further strain ties between Berlin and Washington, already at a low ebb due to allegations that a German man had worked as a double agent for U.S. intelligence. Commerzbank
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