Justice Department Reportedly Nears Settlement with BNP Paribas Over Sanctions Violations

Photo Credit: REUTERS / CHARLES PLATIAUU.S. prosecutors and BNP Paribas have reached an agreement on the general outline of a deal that would require France’s largest lender to pay between $8 billion and $9 billion in fines for allegedly covering up $30 billion in transactions that violate U.S. sanctions, according to a published report.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal would also require BNP plead guilty to a criminal charge of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and a temporary ban on making transactions in U.S. dollars.

Prosecutors claim that BNP used regional overseas banks between 2002 and 2007 to route funds linked to companies and government agencies based in Sudan. The Journal reports that most of the transactions were related to oil deals. In 2007, the bank announced that it would no longer do business in Sudan, which was being accused by the U.S. and its allies of committing genocide in that country’s Darfur region.

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