BNP Paribas Asks Appeals Court to Toss Sudan Abuse Verdict (1)

BNP Paribas SA asked a federal appeals court to reverse a verdict of nearly $21 million against the bank over allegations that it funded a regime in Sudan that committed widespread human rights abuses.

A New York jury decided in October that BNP Paribas was liable for harm to three Sudanese refugees, who accused the bank of helping finance Sudan’s dictatorship from 1997 to 2011, despite US sanctions. The verdict came in the first trial of thousands of claims from refugees from the African nation in the US against the bank.

The claims were tried as a bellwether for ...