Money Laundering: Standard Chartered pays $340 million to settle Iran charges

Ben Rooney

British bank Standard Chartered agreed Tuesday to pay a $340 million civil penalty to settle money-laundering charges brought by state authorities in New York.

The New York Department of Financial Services had accused the London-based banking group of conspiring with Iran to avoid U.S. economic sanctions by concealing transactions totalling $250 billion over nearly 10 years.

In a statement, the New York regulators said Standard Chartered (SCBFF) agreed that the transactions in question were worth at least $250 billion. Standard Chartered had previously claimed that the transactions involved amounted to only $14 million.

Standard Chartered is also being investigated for possible violations of U.S. sanctions by federal authorities, including the U.S. Treasury Department, which has yet to officially announce any charges against the bank.

"Our investigation continues," a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement. "Treasury will continue working with our regulatory and law enforcement partners to hold Standard Chartered accountable for any sanctionable activity that occurred."

Standard Chartered continues to "engage constructively" with U.S. authorities and any resolution will be announced "in due course," the bank said in a brief statement.

The settlement was announced one day before Standard Chartered executives were set to appear in New York. Chief executive Peter Sands was reportedly in New York Tuesday to negotiate the settlement.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement that the settlement "demonstrates the effectiveness and leadership of the new Department of Financial Services." The department's superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, had come under fire for moving unilaterally against Standard Chartered.

Source: CNN (14/08/2012): http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/08/14/standard-chartered-settlement/?hpt=ibu_c1