French bank near settlement with U.S. for up to $9B

BNP Paribas SA and U.S. prosecutors have agreed to broad terms of a deal in which the bank would pay $8 billion to $9 billion and accept other punishment based on what investigators say is evidence the bank intentionally hid $30 billion of financial transactions that violated U.S. sanctions, according to people close to the probe.

The Wall Street Journal reports the French bank allegedly used regional banks overseas to route funds linked to companies and government in Sudan.

Overall, U.S. authorities examined more than $100 billion of transactions that raised suspicions before focusing on about $30 billion they eventually concluded were willfully hidden to avoid detection by U.S. sanctions enforcers, according to people close to the investigation.

Read more from the Wall Street Journal.