The head of BNP Paribas has conceded the bank will be "punished severely" ahead of what is expected to be a multi-billion dollar fine for breaching US economic sanctions.
"I want to be clear that we will be punished severely because malfunctions have occurred and mistakes were made. But this difficulty we are facing will not impact our roadmap," director general Jean-Laurent Bonnafe had written to employees yesterday, French news channel i-Tele reported.
The New York Times reported yesterday that BNP Paribas is set to announce a deal next week to plead guilty to helping some countries avoid US sanctions and agree to pay an 8.9 billion USD fine.
BNP Paribas is accused of breaching US sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Cuba between 2002 and 2009 by handling 30 billion USD worth of transactions with them.
At the request of US authorities, the bank, France's largest by capitalisation has already severed ties with a dozen employees, including two senior executives.
The case has strained ties between Paris and Washington, with the French government warning a mooted fine exceeding 10 billion USD would endanger negotiations on a US-EU free trade agreement and cause a knock-on effect through the banking system.
