The woman and two men who obtained the verdict against BNP Paribas S.A. are U.S. citizens who left Sudan after being displaced, losing their homes and property. They were awarded amounts between $6.7 million and $7.3 million apiece on Friday after jurors deliberated for about four hours.
In an August 28 pretrial memorandum, the plaintiffs argued that BNP Paribas helped the Sudanese government “carry out one of the most notorious campaigns of persecution in modern history.”
“They’re very gratified that steps on the road toward justice are being achieved, and they’re happy that the bank is being held responsible for its abhorrent conduct,” their lawyer, Adam Levitt, said on Saturday.
A spokesperson for BNP Paribas responded via email, stating that the result “is clearly wrong and there are very strong grounds to appeal the verdict.” The bank also expressed concern that it had not been allowed to introduce important evidence during the trial.
BNP Paribas argued that Sudan had other sources of money and that the company did not knowingly help the government engage in human rights abuses under former President Omar al-Bashir. The bank provided Sudanese authorities access to international money markets from at least 2002 to 2008.
Over the years, as many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes in the Darfur region. The litigation pertains to government actions in many parts of the country.
Al-Bashir is currently being held in a military-run detention facility in northern Sudan, his lawyer said earlier this month. He has been charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes including genocide but has not been handed over to face justice in The Hague.
Sudan plunged into a civil war more than two years ago, sparking what aid organizations have described as one of the world’s worst displacement and hunger crises.
Lawyers for the French bank maintained that it did not have liability. In an August court filing, they stated: “Human rights abuses in Sudan did not start with BNPP, did not end when BNPP left Sudan, and were not caused by BNPP.”
They further wrote, “BNP Paribas never participated in Sudanese military transactions in any way; it never financed Sudan’s purchase of arms, and there is no evidence linking any specific transaction to Plaintiffs’ injuries.”
Levitt, the plaintiffs’ attorney, called the case a “bellwether trial,” with findings he hopes to apply to other Sudanese refugees—23,000 U.S. citizens who are members of the class-action case.
The BNP spokesperson emphasized that the verdict was specific to the three plaintiffs and “should not have broader application beyond this decision.”
https://fortune.com/2025/10/18/bnp-paribas-france-largest-bank-21-million-verdict-sudan-atrocities/