(Bloomberg) — BNP Paribas SA asked a judge to throw out a $20.75 million verdict against the bank in favor of three former Sudanese refugees who claimed the bank was responsible for funding the regime responsible for widespread human rights abuses.
BNP argued that Swiss law, which was the legal basis of the suit against the bank, doesn’t permit the claims and that they failed to prove their case in a five-week trial in Manhattan federal court that ended last month. The bank said the amount of damages awarded in the case was excessive.
“These awards far exceed — by more than an order of magnitude — any amounts that have ever been awarded by Swiss courts for similar injuries,” BNP said in a court filing late Friday.
BNP asked US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who presided over the trial, to reject the verdict and rule for the defense on the claims, or to at least order a new trial. The request is a long shot, as the judge had rejected many of the arguments before trial. BNP has said it will appeal.
“Plaintiffs believe that BNP’s motions lack merit and are confident they will prevail, as they repeatedly have over the past decade,” David Hecht, a lawyer for thousands of US residents who say they were brutalized by Sudan’s dictatorship between 1997 and 2011, said in an email Saturday.
Sudanese refugees sued in 2016, alleging that BNP helped the regime bank oil revenues, in violation of US sanctions, helping the country’s ruling regime maintain power and fund a campaign of repression. BNP has said it provided normal, essential financial services in Sudan and that the victims can’t connect those services to the injuries they suffered.
BNP Paribas’ shares plunged as much as 10.6% in the wake of the trial, which was the first test of the plaintiffs’ claims before a jury, amid concerns over the potential for billions of dollars in potential liability.
The case is Kashef v. BNP Paribas, 16-cv-03228, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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