First Hawaiian Bank, the largest financial institution in the state by assets, is assuring customers that the potential $10 billion fine that its Paris-based parent is facing will not affect local operations.
BNP Paribas has been accused by the U.S. government of breaking American trade sanctions by transferring funds for clients in violation of sanctions against Sudan, Iran and Cuba, according to news reports.
"As a customer of the bank, you have no cause for concern," First Hawaiian spokesman Chris Dods said Tuesday. "This matter is a very specific issue. It has no impact on First Hawaiian’s business with our customers, and we assure you it will not affect your relationship with the bank. We also assure you that there is absolutely no risk whatsoever with regard to your deposits."
First Hawaiian Bank and San Francisco-based Bank of the West, subsidiaries of Honolulu-based BancWest Corp., are the only two U.S. retail banks owned by BNP Paribas. First Hawaiian had $17.3 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, and Bank of the West had about $65 billion in assets.
Amid the turmoil, Japan’s biggest banks are considering a bid for First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of the West, according to a report Monday in The Australian newspaper. The two U.S. banks account for 10 percent of BNP’s retail banking revenue, according to the report.
First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of the West have long been coveted by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ, which are looking to expand their U.S. operations, according to the report.
Dods said Tuesday that First Hawaiian is not for sale. Chris Dods is the son of former First Hawaiian CEO Walter Dods, who was instrumental in selling First Hawaiian to BNP 13 years ago.
New York-based BNP spokeswoman Cesaltine Gregorio declined to comment immediately on the potential fine or any possible effect on First Hawaiian because of the different scenarios involved with the U.S. investigation.
First Hawaiian became a wholly owned subsidiary of France’s largest publicly traded bank in 2001 when BNP Paribas acquired the remaining 55 percent of BancWest that it did not already own for $2.4 billion. First Hawaiian had merged with Bank of the West in 1998 to create BancWest Corp.
BNP Paribas, under investigation for doing business with countries that the United States has blacklisted, is hashing out the final details of a criminal guilty plea, according to a story published Wednesday by The New York Times.
BNP is weeks from striking a deal with prosecutors that will require it to pay at least an $8 billion fine and have its parent company plead guilty to a crime. Other reports have said the fine could be as much as $10 billion.
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The New York Times contributed to this story.
