News
Standard Chartered Dinged $327 Million for Lack of Candor with Regulators
By Brian Monroe
printA nearly $330 million deferred prosecution agreement with a London-based bank reinforces the perils financial institutions face when reviewing batches of previous transactions for possible sanctions or anti-money laundering violations. The $327 million penalty Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) agreed to pay Monday speaks to the greater issue of how transparent banks should be when they are the subject of a targeted examination, said Adam Kaufmann, executive assistant district attorney and chief of the investigation division in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. "You can't be too cute" when investigators ask for all data related to transactions with sanctioned countries "because that...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
Ahead of Standard Chartered Bank's payment of $667 million in 2012 to settle U.S. sanctions violations, the lender backed the sales of hundreds of restricted American goods bound for Iran, a leaked compliance review shows.
Settlement negotiations with Credit Agricole CIB have revived a longstanding disagreement among U.S. agencies over whether a bank should be penalized for not disclosing legal transactions linked to Iran, sources say.
This time last December, one might reasonably have expected that 2014 would be a year of modest changes for the anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance sector. Then came JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas and a convoy of Russian tanks to quash that notion.
U.S. authorities should consult British regulators on the financial penalties they plan to impose on banks in the United Kingdom, Prudential Regulation Authority head Andrew Baily said Tuesday.
Standard Chartered Bank will pay New York $300 million for anti-money laundering violations, a sum nearly 90 percent of a separate fine paid by the institution to the state in 2012 for related sanctions troubles.
PricewaterhouseCoopers will pay $25 million and revise its consulting practices after removing incriminating findings from a 2008 report drafted for Japan's largest bank, a New York State regulator said.
A number of large U.S. and international banks are dropping customer accounts and services tied to high-risk geographical regions and lines of business in response to regulatory pressure, including enforcement actions.
Financial consultants are weighing ways to shield their auditors from undue influence by clients in the wake of a monetary settlement by New York State and congressional testimony by federal regulators.
Facing mounting regulatory pressure in the past year, several multinational banks are weighing whether to scale back their cash letter processing and other services for some of their foreign counterparts, say compliance professionals.
In the wake of two state-issued fines that totaled over $500 million dollars, several foreign banks with chartered branches in New York are considering moving elsewhere, say sources with knowledge of the matter.
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services must pay New York $10 million and refrain from consulting additional state-regulated banks for one year after improperly sharing client data with Standard Chartered.
The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved legislation that would restrict Iran's access to its overseas assets and expand measures targeting profits derived from the country's commercial trade.
It's a question few banks ever want to hear from the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions arm: would you waive your statute of limitations protections and allow us to review more data?
I'm not going to give you that "best of times, worst of times" crap in summing up 2012. When it comes to the year in compliance, there was just the "worst of times" and not much, if any, "best."
For many anti-money laundering and sanctions professionals, 2012 will be remembered as a year of record fines. Banks paid billions to settle AML and sanctions compliance violations, with one penalty alone reaching almost $2 billion.
Deutsche Bank confirmed rumors that it is under investigation for possible U.S. sanctions violations, a former Bank of Hapoalim chairman was indicted for fraud and money laundering in Israel, 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.
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.