BNP Paribas, the French bank being investigated for money laundering for Sudanese agencies and companies, could see some leniency from New York regulators.
The state Department of Financial Services, headed by Benjamin Lawsky, is focusing on how long of a grace period to allow the bank before dropping the hammer and barring it from clearing transactions in US dollars — the lifeblood of the bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
The ability to process and move around money in the US currency, or dollar clearing, is “central” for BNP Paribas, said Erin Davis, a banking analyst at Morningstar.
“The real question is if they’re not able to transact dollar payments,” she told The Post. “That’s a very critical underlying service for most of their corporate customers.”
A phase-in period would likely allow the bank to complete transactions that are already taking place, she said.
Lawsky’s office is also weighing whether to bar dollar clearing for the whole bank or the units more closely responsible for the alleged money laundering, one person said.
Those areas include the trade finance divisions and commodities businesses in the US and abroad, the person said.
If regulators banned all of BNP from processing dollars, “they would probably go out of business,” Davis said.
Regulators and the bank are still working out settlement terms, which are expected to be announced next week, the person said.
All told, BNP could be on the hook for around $9 billion in fines, a guilty plea for money laundering for entities in blacklisted countries, and the firing of more than 12 people, the person said.
The bank is also likely to claw back salaries from those targeted, the person said.
US prosecutors have alleged that BNP used regional banks outside the US to hide assets from business it did with Sudan, Iran and Cuba, The Post exclusively reported early this month.
The French bank also was alleged to have deliberately changed documents in order to disguise about $100 billion in transfers, much of which came about in the years directly after the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Cesaltine Gregorio, a BNP spokeswoman, wasn’t immediately available for comment.