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NY Regulator’s Standard Chartered Order Misconstrues Sanctions Laws: Experts
By Colby Adams and Brian Monroe
printA New York agency's threat to revoke Standard Chartered Bank's state license for alleged sanctions violations is based on a flawed understanding of U.S. Treasury regulations, say former U.S. officials. In an order published Monday, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) accused the London-based bank of conspiring with the Iranian government to hide 60,000 secret "u-turn" transactions between 2001 and 2010 worth at least $250 billion from U.S. regulators. "The order blasts [SCB] for doing u-turn transactions before 2008, but so what, at the time, they were legal," said a former U.S. Treasury official. "Perhaps there was...
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