Updated, 8:13 p.m. | A senior BNP Paribas executive is stepping down in the face of an investigation into whether the bank did business with countries blacklisted by the United States.
Georges Chodron de Courcel, 64, one of BNP Paribas’s three chief operating officers, is retiring after a 42-year career with the bank, it said on Thursday in a statement that made no mention of the United States investigation.
People briefed on the matter said last week that New York State’s financial regulator, Benjamin M. Lawsky, had focused on more than a dozen people, including Mr. Chodron de Courcel, for dismissal as part of an eventual settlement. One of the people added that Mr. Chodron de Courcel was already planning his retirement when Mr. Lawsky’s investigation heated up.
BNP Paribas, which is based in Paris, is negotiating with Mr. Lawsky’s office, along with the Justice Department, the Treasury Department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, to resolve the case, which hinges on claims that the bank traded with Iran, Sudan and other countries in violation of United States law.
The bank is expected to pay at least $8 billion in penalties, officials have said, potentially the largest ever in a criminal investigation of the banking industry. Prosecutors are also expected to demand that the bank’s parent company plead guilty to wrongdoing, the officials have said, threatening what would be a rare criminal action against a big global bank.
United States investigators say they believe that BNP Paribas processed transactions for blacklisted countries through its businesses in the United States — a crime under United States law, though not under French or European law.
The case has touched off serious concern in France, where officials worry that the proposed penalties could undermine the bank’s finances and hurt confidence.
Mr. Chodron de Courcel is a director of several listed companies, the bank’s statement said. He is stepping down from his role as chief operating officer on June 30 “at his own request” so that he can continue to remain in those director roles after a new French law comes into effect limiting how many directorships bank officers can hold.
The bank said Mr. Chodron de Courcel would remain in a supervisory role at the company until he formally retires at the end of September and thanked him for a “decisive contribution to the group’s development.”
Julia Boyce, a spokeswoman for BNP Paribas, declined to comment or make Mr. Chodron de Courcel available.
Mr. Chodron de Courcel said in the statement that he was “proud to have contributed to building this outstanding group, which has now become one of the European leaders in its industry. I am convinced that BNP Paribas will be able to play a prominent role in the coming years.”