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The US is seeking more than $10 billion from French bank BNP Paribas to settle charges it violated US sanctions on Iran, Sudan and Cuba, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
Citing people familiar with the negotiations between the bank and the Justice Department, the newspaper said the two sides are still locked in talks, and that BNP wants to pay less than USD 8 billion.
Both numbers are far higher than earlier reports of less than USD 4 billion, and would far outpace the $1.9 billion British bank HSBC was fined in 2012 for routinely handling money transfers for countries under sanction and for Mexican drug traffickers.
The Journal said a final resolution of the BNP case, which related to the bank’s activity in 2002-2009, is “likely weeks away.”
It said the two sides are still arguing over whether the bank, as part of its punishment, will be temporarily denied the right to transfer money into and out from the United States, an important part of any foreign bank’s business in the US.
The report said Justice Department prosecutors continue to press the bank to plead guilty to the charges, which theoretically could risk its US banking licence.
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