BNP, tax evasion: US still dictates its economic law

WASHINGTON, July 13 (AFP) :  Although its diplomatic clout is compromised on several fronts, the United States still dictates its economic law around the globe and has even expanded its reach, at the risk of raising hackles.

The case of BNP Paribas is the most spectacular evidence of the trend.

After lengthy negotiations, France's largest bank agreed to pay $8.9 billion and pleaded guilty to moving billions of dollars through the US financial system on behalf of Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and Sudan, all blacklisted by US economic sanctions.

The use of the dollar alone allowed US authorities the right to order a criminal guilty plea and the record penalty on a foreign bank, a source of friction with French officials.

Former French prime minister Michel Rocard railed against "abuse of power" in an op-ed article in Le Monde newspaper, accusing the US of a kind of economic "occupation" based on the extraterritoriality of its laws.