By Dennis Lynch - UPDATE, 5:40 EDT: Investigators came to fine amount by looking at transactions and found $8.8 billion they could prove "dollar for dollar" was criminally linked.
UPDATE, 5:23 EDT: The 9 billion "walking out the door" is shareholder money - FBI Director James Cole, to shareholders.
"Corporate choices have consequences... [BNP] ignored U.S. sanction laws and concealed its tracks," U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in the DOJ press conference.
Original Story
French banking firm BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) has pleaded guilty to felony charges in a U.S. court for doing business with Iran and other U.S.-sanctioned countries such as the Sudan and Cuba. The bank will reportedly pay a record $8.8 billion fine.
BNP Paribas is charged with falsifying records and conspiracy by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in New York. The U.S. says BNP did not cooperate with the federal investigation.
BNP Paribas is Europe’s second largest bank behind HSBC.