ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

On 17 October 2025, a New York federal jury found the French bank BNP Paribas complicit in atrocities committed by the regime of Omar Al-Bachir in Sudan, during the end of the 90s until 2009. The bank was found to have organised transactions whose proceeds financed the regime’s army and militias. The bank argued that these transactions were lawful under Swiss law at the time.

Three Sudanese nationals, now U.S. citizens, gave evidence at trial of their mistreatment. The jury held the bank responsible for their harm and suffering and awarded US$20.75 million in damages.

The issues at trial were subject to Swiss law as BNP Paribas’ Sudan operations were tied to its Geneva subsidiary. BNP Paribas provided letters of credit for import-export contracts. During the trial, the bank argued that its actions did not cause the atrocities and that liability was not proven. However, the bank’s 2014 U.S. settlement was considerable notable, which included a statement of facts in which BNP Paribas admitted it had processed dollar transactions for Sudan, Iran, and Cuba – all countries subject to U.S. embargo – between 2002 and 2012. This resulted in an US$8.9 billion fine.

The evidence indicated that BNP Paribas acted as Sudan’s only bank for several years, dealing with transactions exceeding US$80 billion dollars between 2002 and 2009. According to the UN, during this time, the conflict resulted in the death of approximately 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million. Omar Al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The three cases came from thousands of complaints filed by Sudanese refugees, so the bank may face further claims.

The bank is appealing the decision.