BNP Paribas Pleads Guilty and Will Pay $8.9 Billion for Economic Sanctions Violations

On June 30, 2014, BNP Paribas S.A. (BNPP), a global bank headquartered in Paris, agreed to enter a guilty plea to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) by processing billions of dollars of transactions through the U.S. financial system on behalf of Sudanese, Iranian, and Cuban entities subject to U.S. economic sanctions. The agreement is the first time a global bank has agreed to plead guilty to large-scale, systematic violations of U.S. economic sanctions.