BNP Paribas Executive May Leave in Deal With Regulator

Under pressure from the United States authorities, the giant French bank BNP Paribas is considering cutting ties to one of its most senior executives, a rare concession that points to the severity of an investigation into the bank’s dealings with Sudan and Iran.

The executive, one of BNP’s three chief operating officers, would step down or retire as part of the bank’s settlement with New York State’s financial regulator, according to people briefed on the matter. The regulator, along with federal and state prosecutors, is investigating whether BNP improperly processed transactions through its New York branches on behalf of countries like Sudan that have been subject to United States sanctions.

The chief operating officer, Georges Chodron de Courcel, is expected to be one of several BNP employees to depart over the investigation, according to the people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The bank and the New York State regulator, Benjamin M. Lawsky, are also discussing the possibility that at least one other senior executive could step down in addition to at least a dozen more employees.

Mr. Chodron de Courcel has not been accused of any wrongdoing. It is possible, one person said, that his departure was already planned as part of his retirement.

It is unusual for a big global bank to agree to executive departures. In the case of Credit Suisse, for example, no senior executives resigned even though the bank pleaded guilty to helping United States account holders hide wealth overseas.

Mr. Lawsky and BNP, France’s biggest bank, are still negotiating the terms of the deal, the people said. A final decision about which executives might depart could still change.

The forced departures are one element of the broader settlements the bank is negotiating with the United States authorities. Federal and state prosecutors — Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan; Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney; and Leslie Caldwell, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington — are pushing the bank to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing.

To resolve all of the investigations, the people said, BNP is expected to pay at least $8 billion. The penalty, a possible record for a criminal investigation into a big global bank, has prompted alarm at the bank and among French officials, who warn that paying such a huge sum could erode the bank’s capital levels and stir further unrest in the European financial system.

And Mr. Lawsky’s settlement offer, at least for now, is not limited to the employee departures. Mr. Lawsky has informed the bank that he plans to temporarily suspend its ability to process transactions through its New York operations on behalf of foreign clients, a process known as dollar clearing.

The bank has resisted that aspect of the deal. Enlisting the support of the highest-ranking French finance officials, the bank has made the case that the suspension would put it at a severe competitive disadvantage.

President François Hollande also recently reached out to the White House to raise concerns about how a plea deal would affect the French economy. President Obama, who is expected to dine on Thursday with Mr. Hollande, said that he would not intervene in the BNP case. “The tradition of the United States is that the president does not meddle in prosecutions,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Lawsky declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for BNP.

The investigation centers on the bank’s dealing with countries subject to United States sanctions. From 2002 to 2009, the people briefed on the matter said, overseas BNP employees processed improper transactions through the bank’s United States operations. In the paperwork for some transactions, the people added, the overseas employees deleted any information that could tie the payments to entities that the United States had hit with sanctions.

It is unclear what role, if any, Mr. Chodron de Courcel played in the transactions. But the authorities suspect that he may have failed to prevent some of the questionable transactions, one of the people briefed on the matter said.

The departure, should it receive final approval, would not be the first that Mr. Lawsky has prompted. In the Credit Suisse case, Mr. Lawsky required the bank to cut any remaining ties to employees who faced criminal indictment in the United States.

Prosecutors are not expected to charge any of the BNP employees before the bank reaches a deal this summer. The decision stems in part from a five-year legal deadline to file criminal charges. Prosecutors have complained that BNP proceeded slowly with an internal investigation into the improper transactions, the people briefed on the matter said, causing the deadline to expire.

Still, Mr. Vance’s office has five additional years to file charges against individuals based overseas. His office is continuing to investigate the case.