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US to slap record $8.9b fine on BNP Paribas

AFP, New York
FRENCH bank BNP Paribas has agreed to pay US authorities a $8.9 billion fine to avoid being tried in court for dealing with US-blacklisted countries, sources close to the matter told AFP.
The deal ends months of haggling which saw French President Francois Hollande pressing his US counterpart Barack Obama to intervene and lighten the punishment.
Agreement on the record fine, approved by the bank's board of directors at a special weekend meeting in Paris, is due to be announced Monday after markets close at the New York Stock Exchange around 4:00 pm (2000 CMT).
The US lustice Department and New York banking regulator Benjamin Lawsky will make separate announcements, another source said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
BNP declined requests for a public comment. At least $2 billion of the fine will go to Lawsky, who is temporarily suspending parts of BNP's dollarhandling business in the United States -key to any major bank's US operations --for all of 2015.
Sources said the suspension would take place progressively since BNP has operations underway.
BNP, France's largest bank, has until
December 31 to find a bank that agrees to make dollar payments on its behalf.
The deal forces BNP to plead guilty to the bank's deals from 2002 to 2009 with countries that Washington has blacklisted like Cuba, Iran and Sudan.
The investigation probed more than $100 billion of transactions, finding that $30 billion of that amount were concealed in order to skirt the sanctions.
BNP has a strong enough capital base to handle the penalty, but the size of the fine and the temporary suspension of parts of its dollar-handling business -- key to any major bank's US operations - will mean a significant hit on its earnings.
BNP chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe reportedly wrote to employees on Friday conceding the bank will be "punished severely," but stressing that "this difficulty... will not impact our roadmap."
US authorities have already forced BNP to dismiss three senior officials allegedly linked to the sanctions violations, including its chief operating officer.
Lower bank officials could also be fired as part of the settlement.
Sources say the settlement could include a year-long suspension of the bank's dollar clearing for oil and gas trading activities in Switzerland, Singapore and France, and suspension of dollar clearing on behalf of other banks and some clients.