BNP Paribas fined by French watchdog for inadequate anti-money laundering

French bank watchdog ACPR said it had fined BNP Paribas €10 million for inadequate anti-money laundering controls.

Reuters reports that the penalty followed a 2015 inspection of the bank which revealed a number of shortcomings in its provisions for preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism, ACPR said in a statement. And it found that the bank dragged its feet in implementing an overhaul of its operations that it had officially decided to implement in 2013.

French authorities have been leading a crackdown in these areas after a series of Islamist attacks in recent years. The fine is higher than the total amount of €6.47 million imposed in the 11 judgements passed in 2016.

BNP declined to comment on whether it would contest the decision or pay the fine. The bank has two months to appeal against the decision.

The ACPR said that at the time the bank did not have enough staff dedicated to spotting and notifying suspicious transactions and inefficient tools for detecting unusual customer transactions.
In 2014, U.S. authorities fined BNP almost $9 billion over accusations that it violated U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran.