BNP Paribas Transacted $1.7 Billion With Cuban Regime

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Yesterday, BNP Paribas S.A. (BNPP), a global financial institution 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.

BNPP will pay total financial penalties of $8.9736 billion, including forfeiture of $8.8336 billion and a fine of $140 million.

In Cuba, BNNP transacted over $1.7 billion with the Castro regime, including with a Specially Designated National (SDN) identified as "one of Cuba's largest state-owned commercial companies."

This company was surely owned and operated by the Cuban military.

According to the court documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice:

"From at least 2000 up through and including 2010, BNPP, through its Paris headquarters, conspired with numerous Cuban banks and entities as well as financial institutions outside of Cuba to provide U.S. dollar financing to Cuban entities in violation of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. During the course of its illicit conduct, BNNP processed thousands of U.S. dollar denominated financial transactions with Sanctioned Entities located in Cuba, with a total value in excess of $1.747 billion, including transactions involving a Cuban SDN with a value in excess of $300 million."