Siemens withdrew deposits from a large French bank two weeks ago and transferred them to the European Central Bank, in the search for a safe haven, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said the German group had withdrawn more than half a billion euros in cash deposits from the French bank. In total, Siemens has parked between 4 billion euros and 6 billion ($8.2 billion) euros at the ECB's facilities, mostly through one-week deposits, the paper said.

It quoted a person with direct knowledge of the matter as saying that the group had withdrawn the money partly because of concerns about the future financial health of the bank and partly to benefit from the higher interest rates paid by the ECB.

The newspaper said it was not clear from which bank Siemens had withdrawn the deposits. However it quoted a person familiar with BNP Paribas as saying that it was not the bank involved.

No one at Siemens was available to comment.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

BNP Paribas Manufacturing