StanChart to settle with US authorities for 330m dollars

Standard Chartered (SCB) announced late on Monday afternoon that it had reached a final settlement with the main US state and federal financial oversight agencies regarding allegations of 'money laundering.'

The above after the bank voluntarily reported its findings concerning past sanctions compliance to the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"), the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Department of Justice and the New York County District Attorney's Office regarding historical sanctions compliance and US dollar payment practices primarily between 2001 and 2007.

Under the terms of the agreement no further action will be taken against Standard Chartered by these authorities if it meets the conditions set out in the agreements.

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Among the conditions is payment of a cash amount of $327m, which will be paid in the second half of 2012.

OFAC found that "while SCB's omission of information affected approximately 60,000 payments related to Iran totalling $250bn, the vast majority of those transactions did not appear to have been violations of the Iranian Transactions Regulations".

In fact, approximately only $24m of transactions processed on behalf of Iranian parties and a total of $109m on behalf other sanctioned entities from other countries (Burma, Sudan and Libya) appeared to be in violation of sanctions laws.

AB