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Six Foreign Banks Face Tough Negotiations With NY Regulator Over Sanctions Violations
By Brian Monroe and Colby Adams
printNew York state regulators who imposed an unprecedented $340 million penalty on a London-based bank this month is likely to be equally tough on six other foreign banks identified as being the subject of similar investigations, say current and former government officials. Over the past several months, five financial institutions have disclosed in company filings that they are being investigated for violating federal sanctions laws and a sixth faces a similar probe, according to published reports. Two of the banks, Deustche Bank and Commerzbank, are German, while Banque Paribas and Credit Agricole are French. The Royal Bank of Scotland is...
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A proposal to hold British bankers more accountable for compliance failings could soon extend to senior executives of foreign banks, U.K. regulators said Monday.
After a busy year for federal sanctions officials, large banks with international footprints are increasingly instituting deeper, standalone audits of their related policies and procedures, say compliance officers and consultants.
Officials in India are looking to strengthen anti-money laundering and terrorist financing controls, U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) suspect Wal-Mart's Mexico branch of money laundering, and more, in the midweek roundup.
New York's $340 million sanctions settlement with Standard Chartered Plc will likely serve as a model for similar compliance-related agreements, even as it deters some banks from obtaining state licenses.
The Federal Reserve Board ordered Asian Bank to strengthen its written Bank Secrecy Act program, a former executive at Lloyds Banking Group admitted to orchestrating a fraud and money laundering scheme worth over $3 million, and more, in the midweek roundup.
A 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.
HSBC Holdings Plc's compliance chief will step down from his current role, following allegations that the bank failed to better police the anti-money laundering programs of its subsidiaries and affiliates.
HSBC Holdings Plc will close all of its U.S. accounts in the Cayman Islands after a congressional investigation found that the Caribbean branch functioned solely as a dollar-clearing shell bank.
Poor anti-money laundering controls on affiliates and problematic oversight allowed a global bank to process tens of trillions of dollars with little to no compliance checks, according to a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
Even prior to the disclosure last month by HSBC Holdings Plc that it would "likely" be the subject of a formal enforcement action related to anti-money laundering (AML) and other violations, things did not look good for the bank, according to Saskia Rietbroek, a partner with nomoneylaundering.com.
HSBC Holdings Plc could pay as much as $1 billion for Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions violations, an amount that would overshadow previous fines for similar infractions, say sources.
A London bank in talks with the United States for potential violations over its economic sanctions compliance program spent $150 million in 2010 on related transaction reviews and upgrades.