BNP Agrees to Pay Over $8.8 Billion to Settle Sanctions Probe

BNP Admits To Filing False Business Records And Conspiracy

By CHARLES LEVINSON
June 30, 2014 4:28 p.m. ET

 BNP.FR +0.27% Representatives for BNP BNP.FR +0.27% Paribas SA pleaded guilty to two felony counts Monday as part of a record $8.8 billion deal to settle a probe into alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Sudan and other countries.

A lawyer for the bank entered the guilty pleas in Manhattan, where the Manhattan District Attorney's office has been one of the agencies investigating the bank for years. The bank admitted to criminal charges of filing false business records and conspiracy.

Justice Department officials are due to announce the terms of the settlement agreement in Washington. In addition to the $8.8 billion penalty, which is a record in a sanctions case, the settlement will include a temporary ban on dollar-clearing transactions, and the cutting of ties with some employees, both demands made by New York state regulators at the Department of Financial Services.

Representatives for the bank also plan to plead guilty in federal court in Manhattan to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

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