Economics
BNP Agrees to Pay $8.97 Billion to End U.S. Sanctions Probe
This article is for subscribers only.
BNP Paribas SA agreed to plead guilty to U.S. sanctions violations and pay $8.97 billion after prosecutors resisted French opposition to the record punishment, saying it serves as a warning to financial firms.
BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, admitted in court documents yesterday that it processed almost $9 billion in banned transactions from 2004 to 2012 involving Sudan, Iran and Cuba. The company will be barred from U.S. dollar-clearing operations for one year for its oil and gas commodity finance business, and it promised not to employ 13 key executives.