{"id":16627,"date":"2015-10-20T11:08:30","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T18:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=16627"},"modified":"2015-10-20T11:08:30","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T18:08:30","slug":"two-paris-based-banks-agree-to-pay-787-3-million-for-violating-u-s-financial-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=16627","title":{"rendered":"Two Paris-Based Banks Agree to Pay $787.3 Million for Violating U.S. Financial Sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON D.C.<\/h2>\n
\n

\"LADYJUSTICE\"<\/a>The\u00a0Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank<\/strong>, a corporate and investment bank owned by Cr\u00e9dit Agricole S.A. and headquartered in Paris, agreed to forfeit $312 million and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement for violating U.S. financial sanctions, officials announced today.<\/p>\n

The financial institutions were being prosecuted by\u00a0the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office of the District of Columbia for \u00a0violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or IEEPA<\/strong> and the Trading With the Enemy Act \u00a0or TWEA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit Agricole and Investment Bank<\/strong> employ more than 7,000 employees in more than 30 countries, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

A one-count felony criminal information and a related civil forfeiture complaint were filed today in federal court in Washington D.C. charging\u00a0Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank\u00a0<\/strong>with conspiring to defraud the United States, and commit violation IEEPA and TWEA.<\/p>\n

Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank<\/strong>\u00a0waived federal indictment.<\/p>\n

It agreed to the filing of the information and civil forfeiture complaint and accepted responsibility for its criminal conduct and that of its employees, officials said.<\/p>\n

Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank<\/strong>\u00a0will pay $156 million to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office \u00a0and $156 million to the New York County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/strong>, officials said.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>The New York County District Attorney\u2019s Office <\/strong>also announced today\u00a0Cr\u00e9dit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank<\/strong>\u00a0entered into a separate deferred prosecution agreement, admitting it violated New York state law<\/strong> by falsifying the records of New York financial institutions, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance <\/strong>said: \u00a0\u201cOver the course of our investigation, it was revealed that subsidiaries of Cr\u00e9dit Agricole illegally moved hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. on behalf of clients in Sudan, Iran, Cuba and Burma.\u00a0 This type of conduct requires the bank be held accountable, and I would like to thank all our partners for their efforts to ensure that our financial system is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bank also entered into settlement agreements with the Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control or\u00a0OFAC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the New York County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/strong> and the New York State Department of Financial Services or DFS.<\/p>\n

In total, CACIB will pay $787.3 million in criminal and civil financial penalties.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanctions laws are critical to both our national security and foreign policy interests,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cCACIB, through its subsidiaries, violated our laws and our interests by conducting business on behalf of entities in Sudan.\u00a0 CACIB\u2019s subsidiaries succeeded in these efforts, in large part, by hiding their conduct from CACIB\u2019s employees in the United States.”<\/p>\n

Adding, “In this case, the overwhelming majority of the unlawful conduct occurred at a foreign subsidiary that no longer exists.\u00a0 Although CACIB moved quickly to end these unlawful transactions and fully cooperated with investigators, today\u2019s resolution demonstrates that there will be significant consequences for any financial institution that allows its foreign subsidiaries that do not intend to respect U.S. law to, nevertheless, access the U.S. financial system.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to documents released publicly today, these are the allegations:<\/strong><\/p>\n