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France's largest bank BNP Paribas has reportedly agreed to a record $9 billion settlement with US prosecutors over sanctions violations.
The settlement is said to be the largest for such a case in US history.
According to the BBC, the US Attorney General said the bank was involved in a complex and pervasive scheme to illegally move billions through the US financial system which was a deliberate attempt at violating the longstanding US sanctions.
France has been condemning the size of the fine, which almost equals BNP's entire pre-tax income of about 8.2 billion euros of 2013.
