Sanctions in Latin America

Knowingly or unknowingly, many companies have broken sanctions rules and faced significant fines and penalties for doing so. In a case in the Southern District of New York, in 2014, French bank BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to processing billions of dollars’ worth of payments for blacklisted Cuban, Iranian, and Sudanese individuals. The illicit transactions reportedly totalled “in excess of US$8.8bn” and BNP Paribas agreed to pay a fine of US$8.9bn, one of the world’s largest such settlements to date. Commenting on the case Attorney General Eric H Holder said “BNP Paribas went to elaborate lengths to conceal prohibited transactions, cover its tracks, and deceive US authorities. These actions represent a serious breach of US law. Sanctions are a key tool in protecting US national security interests, but they only work if they are strictly enforced…Banks thinking about conducting business in violation of US sanctions should think twice because the Justice Department will not look the other way.” . Holder