Australian banks trimmed their modest exposure to the banking systems of Italy and Spain during the September 2011 quarter, and also shaved their more significant exposure to to France, data published last week by the Reserve Bank of Australia shows.Banks increased their holdings of offshore assets in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Canada.The RBA data on international exposures of banks is published more than four months after the end of the quarter to which it relates. The data thus includes about half a quarter's worth of the 2011 escalation in bank and financial market concern over the sovereign debt position of a number of European borrowers and European banks, concerns that have moderated more recently.According to the RBA Australian banks cut exposure to Italy by $300 million to $1.2 billion; to Spain by $700 million to $650 million and to France by $1.3 billion to $12.8 billion.The net beneficiary of the reallocation of offshore assets was the United States, mostly likely representing the purchase of US Treasury notes and bond and the investment of liquid assets with the Federal Reserve.