The size of the settlement that BNP Paribas may have to agree with US authorities for sanctions breaches regarding Iran and Sudan may be more than $10 billion.

The size of the settlement that BNP Paribas may have to agree with US authorities for sanctions breaches regarding Iran and Sudan may be more than $10 billion, a report claimed – double the amount cited in a recent report.

Bloomberg, quoting an unnamed source, said US authorities are seeking the amount from the Paris-based banking and wealth management group. A final agreement is weeks away.

BNP Paribas declined to comment to WealthBriefing on the matter when contacted today; it has not commented on previous reports on the case.

Prosecutors, Bloomberg said, are also pressuring the company to plead guilty to moving funds for clients in violation of sanctions against Sudan, Iran and Cuba. The settlement, if it is arrived at, could be the largest criminal penalty in the US, overtaking the $4 billion accord between oil giant BP and the US Justice Department last year.

Negotiations are being handled by Leslie Caldwell, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, is also involved in the discussions, along with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the report said.

So far, French banks haven’t been punished by the US government for transacting with sanctioned countries, the report said and the French government hasn’t been in talks with the US administration on the matter.

Legal experts have in the past told this publication that the severity of any fines highlight what might be at risk if, as sanctions are imposed on Russia due to its actions in Ukraine, there are similar alleged breaches of sanctions in the future.