I ensure you that trading and sales are the most demanded positions in the most prestigious banks s GS, ML, etc. It's absurd to say Americans don't care about sales trading if you know that Paulson was a salesman at Goldman Sachs. If you don't know who's Paulson, I can tell you that he's Fed Treasury secretary recently promoted by US government. The bonus in trading and sales activities are the most ample as a junior can get 100%-200% of their salaries comparing to their counterparts in IPO or M&A who can only get 50%-150% of basis salaries.
Derivatives are core business for every bank whose ambition is to be global and at top.
You cannot neglect French banks' ability to create the most complicated products. You should not neglect french peoples' talent at Math. You don't think Americans people don't want a best team in derivatives? It's fairly sure that they are very strong in corporate finance, a domain in which french banks are not likely to catch up. But it does not mean they are best everywhere.
Please don't draw definite conclusions when things are not completely clear.
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