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Belgium Calls on BNP to Share Lessons Learned from $9 Billion Fine

Finance Minister Asks Bank CEO to Explain His Plans

BRUSSELS— BNP Paribas SA BNP.FR -2.13% 's largest single shareholder, the Belgian government, has summoned the French bank's chief executive to seek an explanation about the U.S. sanctions case and its $9 billion penalties.

Belgium's Finance Minister Koen Geens expressed concern about the gravity of the charges against BNP Paribas and has asked the bank's CEO, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, to come and meet him soon in Brussels, according to a statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

Mr. Geens "wishes to get a precise understanding of what lessons management and all the responsible parties will learn from what has happened, including matters regarding shareholder transparency," the ministry said.

BNP Paribas, France's largest listed bank by assets, last month pleaded guilty to violating U.S. sanctions against Sudan, Iran and Cuba, as part of an unprecedented settlement that included a year-long ban on the bank's ability to conduct certain U.S. dollar transactions.

A spokeswoman for BNP Paribas declined to comment.

The Belgian government's request highlights the pressure on the French bank and its management to explain how it plans to turn the page on what Mr. Bonnafé himself has described as a "difficult situation." The settlement with U.S. authorities has marked an abrupt fall from grace for a bank, which until now had largely dodged the scandals that gave the industry a bad name, such as the U.S. mortgage crisis or the Libor interest-rate rigging.

The country ended up with a stake in the French lender in 2009 when BNP Paribas bought Belgian bank Fortis, 532843.BY +1.38% which had been bailed out by the Belgian government.

The Belgian government has said it wasn't intent on holding on to its 10.3% interest in the bank. "However, a decision to sell this type of holding needs to be taken in a calm atmosphere by a government with a full mandate," said Mr. Geens.

Belgium's current six-party coalition government is in a caretaker role; preliminary talks to form a new government have been continuing since elections in late May.

In the settlement on June 30, U.S. officials laid out in stark terms a sophisticated and long-running scheme BNP Paribas relied on to disguise billions of dollars in financial transactions in violation of American sanctions—despite warnings by some within the firm about the legality, and morality, of the transactions.

In Sudan, the bank acknowledged using regional banks overseas to process more than $20 billion in financial transactions linked to local companies and government agencies at a time when the nation was engaged in what the U.S. and others call genocide.

Mr. Bonnafé expressed "deep regrets" for the French bank's misconduct shortly after U.S. authorities announced the settlement. "The failures that have come to light in the course of this investigation run contrary to the principles on which BNP Paribas has always sought to operate," Mr. Bonnafé said.

The bank said it would set up a special unit in New York to ensure BNP Paribas complies globally with U.S. sanctions. Its New York branch will be responsible for processing and controlling all of the bank's dollar flows in the future.