Foreign financial institutions and other non-U.S. companies newly tasked with disclosing when their affiliates deal with Iranian government officials are finding the requirements onerous, according to compliance officers and consultants.
U.S. financial institutions must freeze any account and block any payment linked to the Syria Islamic International Bank (SIIB), the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress this week mulled imposing new financial and energy-related sanctions against Iran ahead of planned negotiations with Iranian officials later this month.
U.S. and foreign banks are awaiting official guidance on how to adhere to a new American sanctions law against the Central Bank of Iran before implementing its screening procedures.
U.S. senators Monday approved a reconciled defense appropriations bill that would sanction Iran's central bank, making only a single nod to White House concerns that the bill would displease trade partners.
The U.K.'s latest economic sanctions against Iran will likely cost banks proceeds from dropped trade finance deals in addition to new compliance expenses, according to attorneys and officials at British financial institutions.
The Obama Administration Thursday voiced opposition to a Senate plan to bar any foreign bank that knowingly conducts transactions with the Central Bank of Iran from the U.S. financial system.
The U.S. Treasury Department will designate Iran a "primary money laundering concern" on Monday, according to published reports.
The U.S. Treasury Department Monday proposed designating Iran as a "primary money laundering concern" and requiring banks to end correspondent relationships with foreign institutions that transact for Iranians.
U.S. lawmakers Tuesday again heard recommendations on how to broaden economic sanctions against Iran, including possibly targeting Chinese gasoline traders and energy sector front companies.
The U.S. Senate as soon as this week will consider a proposal to apply direct sanctions to the Central Bank of Iran after a House panel adopted a similar measure Wednesday.
A congressional committee Wednesday approved an amended measure that would sanction the Central Bank of Iran and require U.S. financial institutions to certify that their foreign counterparts have no ties to blacklisted Iranians.
U.S. and European banks are rejecting millions of dollars of legitimate remittances originating from Iran and intended for Iranians and Iranian-Americans in the United States, even when federal authorities approve the transactions.
U.S. officials have secretly solicited and, at times, received data from foreign banks on accounts tied to Iranian entities, without notifying the accountholders of the requests, say sources.
Pending civil complaints and recently unsealed documents in a case against a Luxembourg-based financial institution show the difficulty in collecting a landmark monetary penalty assessed against Iran for sponsoring terror, say analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday disclosed an $111,359 fine against the New York branch of Société Générale for violating American sanctions against Iran in late 2006 and early 2007.
Caught between pressure from U.S. lawmakers to crack down harder on Iran and Syria and the desire to act in concert with America's allies, the White House is walking a fine line in its use of economic sanctions.
U.S. officials Thursday blacklisted an Iranian financial institution and two other companies linked to the country's elite military arm as lawmakers separately questioned the efficacy of economic sanctions against the nation.
Banks were the subject of praise and a warning at a press conference on Monday unveiling a 317 count indictment against 11 corporations and five individuals for their alleged participation in a conspiracy involving an Iranian shipping company.
A congressional measure aimed at Iran could spell new compliance duties for U.S. financial institutions, including requiring banks to certify that their correspondent institutions don't maintain accounts for blacklisted Iranians.