BNP Paribas Logs Huge Quarterly Loss After US Fine

French banking giant BNP Paribas has announced a record net loss for the second quarter. It cited a huge US fine as the only reason for being in the red, noting that results had otherwise been fine.

BNP Paribas reported a record bottom-line loss of 4.3 billion euros ($5.75billion) in its second-quarter review on Thursday.



The loss marked BNP's first negative quarterly result since the onset of the global financial crisis back in 2008.



BNP said the results had been hit by payments the bank had to make to the US, following a fine imposed on it for violating US sanctions.



Bitter pill



The French lender had to pony up exceptional expenditure of 5.8 billion euro in the second quarter to honor a landmark $6.6bn settlement with US authorities. They had accused the bank of moving money through the US financial system on behalf of Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and Sudan - all countries under Washington's economic sanctions at the time.



Paribas officials noted that it would have been able to post a net profit of 1.9 billion euros without the charge.



Second quarter investment banking performance exceeded analysts' expectations, with BNP's capital market operations income surging 22 percent year-on-year.



hg/bw (dpa, Reuters)