StanChart in pact with US government over deals with Iranian banks
11 Dec 2012
UK lender Standard Chartered has struck a deal with US federal and state prosecutors over accusations of illegal channelling money for Iranian banks and corporations.
The deal would see the 150-year-old bank pay $327 million as to settle claims by the justice department, the Manhattan district attorney's office, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Treasury Department.
Included in the settlement is a deferred prosecution agreement with the justice department, which accused the lender of ''concealing'' ties with sanctioned countries like Iran and Sudan.
According to Lanny A Breuer, head of the justice department's criminal division, who spoke in an interview, it was against the law and Standard Chartered was being held to account.
In August, the New York State Department of Financial Services, headed by Benjamin M Lawsky, accused Standard Chartered of scheming for around a decade to conceal around 60,000 transactions totalling around $250 billion. The bank agreed to pay $340 million over the matter a month later.
US financial regulators had launched a drive against banks that transferred money on behalf of sanctioned nations in defiance of law. Investigations into Standard Chartered got under way in 2009, according to several law enforcement officials.