France hits out at dollar dominance in international transactions

[boomslang]

for a country that never won a major battle they sure talk a lot of smack lol

Yeah, but I'm not going to bust their balls. It's just too easy.

 

[Gabriel92]

Yeah, but I'm not going to bust their balls. It's just too easy.

Come in France dude,i will surrender
Our soldiers surrendered in Libya,Mali,Afghanistan,Centrafrican republic,Kuwait
In Mali 130 soldiers and 3 helicopters surrendered to a man with a cow.
I was in Afghanistan,i did a lot of missions with Us.soldiers,and they weren't saying that french are surrender,because they're probably more intelligent than you
Gives back our statue of liberty

 

[boomslang]

...Gives back our statue of liberty

Come and get it. Damned thing blocks my view of New Jersey.

 

[Gabriel92]

Come and get it.

Sure i will.

 

[iajj]

for a country that never won a major battle they sure talk a lot of smack lol

the frenchies did win the war that gifted thirteen north american colonies their freedom from england. but a $10 billion fine is a nice way to repay the debt of life, no?

 

[xyxmt]

It's FRANCE. They ALWAYS have their panties in a bunch when it comes to the U.S. Geez !!!

give them freedom fries punishment once more

 

[boomslang]

give them freedom fries punishment once more

You are a cruel person. They couldn't take another dose of that.

 

[TruthSeeker]

The ruble is the answer! Let the French conduct their international transactions in rubles.

 

[boomslang]

The ruble is the answer! Let the French conduct their international transactions in rubles.

Zimbabwe dollars !!

 

[iajj]

The ruble is the answer! Let the French conduct their international transactions in rubles.

Zimbabwe dollars !!

a couple of fragile jew and anglosaxon souls: we all know what alternatives the french were really gunning for, and you cowards just dreaded uttering the real names. russians and zimbabwans don't have the hubris, but jews and anglosaxons don't really have the balls.

 

[xenon54 out]

Come and get it. Damned thing blocks my view of New Jersey.

Why would someone like to see New Jersey?

 

[Gabriel92]

for a country that never won a major battle they sure talk a lot of smack lol

B'cause your country won something ?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

@LeveragedBuyout, what do you think of the article in the OP?

The French officials say that BNP Paribas did not break any European rules?

French officials lobbied heavily on behalf of the country’s largest bank and argued that BNP broke no European rules, prompting a debate about whether it had been the victim of US judicial over-reach.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

@LeveragedBuyout, what do you think of the article in the OP?

The French officials say that BNP Paribas did not break any European rules?

BNP did not break any European rules, but they broke American laws, egregiously. BNP has a banking license in the US, and their license requires them to comply with US law. If they want to operate in the US, they have to comply with US law, if they want to clear dollar transactions through the US financial system (electronic transfers clear through the Federal Reserve system), they must comply with US law. If this were a foreign bank without US operations, the US would have had far less power to do anything about this.

Even though China operates an amoral foreign policy, I think you can probably appreciate the revulsion the US feels at having any dealings with a genocidal regime like Sudan, and any breaches in our law, and even worse, clearing transactions through our financial system to help such a regime, has severe consequences. Only France has the gall to suggest that BNP didn't violate any European laws, and so did nothing wrong. Time to switch back to Freedom Fries, I guess.

I have to say, the FT has been slipping in quality for about 10 years. It's a failure of journalism to not properly explain the background to this settlement, but I will provide details on just how bad BNP's actions were (and they themselves knew how illicit their activity was).

Here's the NYT (I will only excerpt a few paragraphs):
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06...in-sanctions-case/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Like other banks, BNP hid the names of Sudanese and Iranian clients when sending transactions through its New York operations and the broader American financial system. But the wrongdoing was more pervasive at BNP, the authorities found, stretching from at least 2002 into 2012, by which time the investigation was already in full swing.
...
Some units tried to cover up the transactions, the authorities said. In the bank’s Geneva office, “there was policy to strip, amend and omit” information identifying Sudanese clients.
...
Some BNP employees sounded the alarms. But at a September 2005 meeting, one of the bank’s chief operating officers “dismissed the concerns of the compliance officials,” Mr. Lawsky said, and requested that no minutes of the meeting be taken.

Here's the WSJ:
BNP Compliance Staff Gave Warnings But Assisted Misconduct - Risk & Compliance - WSJ

For example, to help Sudan move money through the U.S., BNP first funneled Sudanese cash through a satellite bank in Geneva where it scrubbed references to the sanctioned country. The conduct was “known” and “condoned” by bank’s senior compliance staff who, according to the plea, advocated continuing the transactions because of the “importance to [BNP’s] business relationships and ‘goodwill’ in Sudan.” At a time when Sudan was accused of grave human rights atrocities in Darfur, BNP’s Geneva bank represented half of country’s foreign currency assets, the bank admitted.

–In 2005, a senior compliance officer at BNP warned: “”As I understand it, we have a number of Arab Banks (nine identified) on our books that only carry out clearing transactions for Sudanese banks in dollars. . .. This practice effectively means that we are circumventing the US embargo on transactions in USD by Sudan.” But in response a business leader told the compliance officer that the practice had “full support” of management at BNP in Paris.

-Later that year compliance staff met with BNP executives to again express, “to the highest level of the bank, the reservations of the Swiss Compliance office concerning the transactions executed with and for Sudanese customers.” An executive requested no minutes of the meeting be kept and again dismissed the issue.

–In 2006 after again expressing worries about the Sudan transactions, compliance personnel “signed off on continuation of the transactions.” An email said compliance personnel were willing to concede because “the relationship with this body of counterparties is a historical one and the commercial stakes are significant. For these reasons, Compliance does not want to stand in the way of maintaining this activity.”

–A BNP compliance officer stressed the importance of BNP’s Sudan business saying: “For many years, the Sudan has traditionally generated a major source of business for BNPP Geneva including transactions such as investment held on deposit. The existence of a dedicated desk for this region, GC8, for which the Sudan is one of the largest customers, relationships developed with directors of Sudanese financial institutions and traditional practices have over the years led to a major source of income, which is now recurring income.”

–In 2007, a senior compliance officer warned that clearing Sudan transactions through U.S. banks could be viewed as a “grave violation” and a “serious breach” of sanctions law. Another compliance officer warned that the banks BNP was helping “play a pivotal part in the support of the Sudanese government which … has hosted Osama Bin Laden and refuses the United Nations intervention in Darfur.”

–But compliance officers said the bank had “no-win” alternatives to disguising transactions from sanctioned countries. Either continue “telling stories”, or stop doing dollar transactions with Cuba, Iran and Sudan. A compliance officer late concluded “[t]otal transparency is not currently possible.”

 

[boomslang]

Why would someone like to see New Jersey?

Beats looking at Turkey.