BNP Paribas disputes US court verdict over role in Sudan atrocities

France’s biggest bank BNP Paribas on Tuesday said it was disputing a United States court ruling in a Sudan-related litigation and that it believed the verdict will be overturned on appeal.

A New York federal jury last week found the bank helped the government of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir commit genocide.

The court ordered BNP Paribas to pay close to $21 million to three plaintiffs.

The bank’s shares fell by around 10% on Monday, with analysts attributing the drop to the court’s verdict.

In a statement on Monday, BNP said it will use “all recourses available” to fight the case. BNP Paribas also argued the verdict should not be extrapolated to other cases or lead to speculation about a potential settlement.

"This verdict is specific to these three plaintiffs and should not have broader application," the statement read.

"A historic moment"

BNP Paribas gave Sudanese authorities access to international money markets in the 1990s and 2000s.

The three plaintiffs said these contracts helped the Sudanese government commit atrocities against its population.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the court's decision opens the door for more than 20,000 Sudanese refugees in the US to seek billions of dollars in damages from the French bank.

"The verdict marks a historic moment in human rights and financial accountability, setting a precedent for holding global banks civilly liable for facilitating regimes accused of crimes against humanity," law firm Hausfeld said in a statement on Friday.

During his three decades in power, Omar al-Bashir led a deeply authoritarian rule. His country was marred by several internal wars, including the war in Darfur.

Between 2003 and 2005, the Sudanese government’s attacks on Darfur killed around 200,000 civilians and displaced two million people, according to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The US government recognised the Darfur genocide in 2004.

The International Criminal Court indicted Bashir in 2009 on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture and rape. He was ousted from power in a 2019 coup.