Credit Agricole to pay $800m in sanctions case

French bank Credit Agricole has agreed to pay $800 million to settle US charges it conducted illegal business in Iran and other sanctioned countries, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

The settlement will be announced this week, possibly as soon as Tuesday, the person said. The deal with the US Department of Justice and other agencies is a deferred prosecution agreement and does not require Credit Agricole to plead guilty.

US authorities accuse the bank of illegally handling billions of dollars in transfers for entities from countries under US sanctions like Sudan, Cuba and Iran between 2003 and 2008.

Some of the bankers responsible for the wrongdoing have already been dismissed, while one employee is still with the French bank and is expected to be dismissed, the person said.

Besides Justice, the agencies involved in the settlement are the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the New York Department of Financial Services.

Rival French bank BNP Paribas was ordered to pay a record $8.9 billion fine earlier this year for similar violations in the long-running US investigation of European banks for illicit dollar transactions with countries under US sanctions.