NY to Add $3B Windfall From Bank Fine To Budget

New York is poised to collect nearly $3.3 billion from a recent record settlement with France’s largest bank, and the Cuomo administration plans to add it to the state’s general fund.

It’s more than enough to fund the state’s prison system or its child welfare programs for a year. But the administration says even with the windfall, the state will continue to limit annual spending growth to less than 2 percent.

The $138.8 billion current budget projects total spending 1.2 percent higher than last year.

BNP Paribas reached an $8.83 billion settlement with federal and state authorities for violating U.S. trade sanctions on Sudan, Iran and Cuba. The bank acknowledged that $190 billion in transactions went through its New York office and other branches while hiding client identities for more than a decade.

This article appeared in print on page 17 of the July 9th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.