Authorities in the United States want BNP Paribas SA (BNP) to pay over $3.5 billion to settle state and federal probes into the lender\u2019s involvement with countries that are sanctioned, including Iran and Sudan. Prosecutors reportedly would like BNP to plead guilty to criminal charges related to the alleged misconduct. The government\u2019s push for a guilty plea is definitely a shift from previous sanction cases that were usually resolved with a deferred prosecution deal. <\/p>\n
The US Justice Department, US Treasury Department, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, the New York Department of Financial Services, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office are the ones who conducted the investigations against BNP Paribas. According to Reuters<\/em>, last week the bank\u2019s CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe and its lawyers met with the New York Department of Financial Services to ask for leniency. A source told the wire service that the state\u2019s banking regulator doesn\u2019t plan to take away BNP Parabas\u2019s license as longa as any deal reached includes certain stiff penalties, such as the temporary suspension of dollar clearing through New York. <\/p>\n US authorities have pursued several foreign banks because they violated sanctions on Iran and other nations. The government believes that these banks did business with entities with ties to these countries, perhaps even stripping information that came from wire transfers so they could get through the US financial system without raising concerns.<\/p>\n