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BNP Paribas profit misses, hit by legal provision

French lender BNP Paribas reported net profit for 2013 that missed market expectations with two different charges for the bank hitting its figures for the year.

It reported a net profit of 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion), a 26.4 percent drop from the previous year and below estimates of 5.7 billion euros in a Reuters poll. Excluding one-off items, that figure came in at 6 billion euros for the year, a fall of 5.3 percent. Net profit for the fourth quarter also failed to meet analysts' predictions.

The bank – France's largest bank by assets – took a 661 million euro charge in connection with a new cost reduction plan. On top of that, it took a 798 million euros ($1.1 billion) provision against possible penalties for allegedly flouting U.S. rules and paying parties subject to U.S. economic sanctions.

(Read more: Banking union delay'a shackle' on growth: BNP Paribas)

In its press release on Thursday, BNP Paribas noted that it had conducted an internal retrospective review of certain U.S. dollar payments over several years. This involved countries, persons and entities that could have been subject to economic sanctions under U.S. law. The review identified a significant volume of transactions that could be considered impermissible under U.S. laws and regulations, it said.

Lars Machenil, chief financial officer of BNP Paribas told, CNBC Thursday that the bank had presented the findings of this review to the U.S. authorities and commenced subsequent discussions with them.

Michel Gangne | AFP | Getty Images

However, he added that he hadn't discussed the amount of provisions that it had set aside for the charges with the U.S. authorities and the final amount could therefore be different from what it has provisioned.

"The U.S. authorities have not approved or passed upon the adequacy or reasonableness of such provision. There therefore remains considerable uncertainty as to the actual amount of fines or penalties that the U.S. authorities could impose on the bank following completion of the ongoing process, the timing of which is uncertain," the bank said on Thursday.

(Read more: Banks need to be 'whipped into shape': BNP CFO)

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