BNP Paribas’ Fine Is a Political Vengeance

The U.S. could sentence BNP Paribas to a $10 billion fine. Why? The French bank is supposed to have made several deals in dollars through its Swiss branch with at least three countries under U.S. embargo: Iran, Sudan and Cuba. The negotiations are still in progress and could carry on for weeks: BNP faces the possibility of having its license taken away, which would prohibit the bank from making deals in dollars and hamper its ability to make deals from and to the U.S.

Interviewer: How do you explain this situation?

Pierre Jovanovic: The implications are simple. You remember a month ago when the U.S. administration asked France to cancel its Mistral [military vessels] deal with the Russian navy.

“The American authorities worry about the two Mistral vessels France is selling to the Russian navy. It is Victoria Nuland, the chief of the U.S. diplomacy in the EU, backed by Congress, who asked the French administration to stop their deal. The reason is that the U.S. has started a big encirclement campaign of the Russian territory.” [Karim Lebhour]

Because the French government turned a deaf ear, the U.S. has retaliated by threatening to withdraw BNP’s license to deal on U.S. territory, plus a $10 billion fine. It is excessive, especially when considering that U.S. banks have been prosecuted for the same activities. Clearly, this is political blackmailing. Recently, it has been announced that the French government would pursue its deal with Russia: I believe 220 Russian navy soldiers are to be welcomed to be trained in operating the vessels in Saint-Nazaire [France]. […] So the heavy fine is meant to punish France for having sold Mistral vessels to Russia.

As you know, right now there is a latent and masked war in Ukraine where different forces are fighting, notably a covered NATO, through U.S. mercenary private groups (under the aegis of ACADEMI, ex-Blackwater), which is exactly what happened between Serbia and Croatia. A French general confirmed that in 1992, 80 high-ranking officers, officially retired, were sent to help the Croatian army to fight off the Serbian population. Now in Ukraine, we have exactly the same situation but drastically exacerbated. A manufactured war is set in place and strategic geopolitical decisions are made.

To be more precise: In 2012, JP Morgan and Bank of America were accused of laundering money for drug dealers. JP Morgan paid $88.3 million to the U.S. Treasury in order to be acquitted and eschew legal proceedings. If you look closely, JP Morgan was accused of the same wrongdoings of BNP — the U.S. bank was caught red-handed dealing with Cuba, Sudan, Iran and Liberia. On one side $10 billion and on the other side $88 million: It is a blatant case of political vengeance.

Interviewer: Any other examples of double standards?

P. Jovanovic: In 2010, Credit Suisse paid a record fine of $536 million to the U.S. after being accused of transferring money to Iran and its bordering countries. Moreover, since 2008 Bank of America paid an accumulated $44 billion in legal fees and fines for 100 infractions. In addition, a few days ago Barclays was sentenced to a $43.7 million fine for manipulating the gold market. What a bargain considering the infraction!

Last but not least, let me remind you that after the Libor scandal, the French government never acted against the U.S. banks who participated in it (maybe because some French banks were involved in the scandal), or in the case of the subprime scandal, not a single French or European bank filed a legal complaint or asked for an extravagant fine. It shows the submission of the European countries to the imperial hegemony of the U.S.

Moreover, in the BNP case, the U.S. authorities demand the termination of 12 senior executives of the bank. This is a first. Even HSBC, whose activities include drug-related money laundering with internationally wanted terrorists, was not so severely treated.