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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure Thursday that would give lawmakers a framework to review the Obama administration's sanctions-related nuclear agreement with Iran.
A U.S. official's threat last month of economic sanctions against four Chinese banks is likely to be toothless given economic and enforcement hurdles, say sanctions analysts.
Businesses and individuals seeking to evade sanctions that target Iran and other nations may be utilizing back-to-back letters of credit to disguise their roles in transactions, say trade analysts.
Additional banking and trade restrictions that target the finance and supply of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs were passed by the U.N. Security Council Wednesday.
The Iran sanctions proposal under consideration at the United Nations could result in international financial institutions broadly dropping their ties to Iran's banking industry, say analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted four companies and one person tied to Iran's elite military branch Wednesday amid efforts to coalesce international support to restrict business with the Persian country.
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted a Labuan, Malaysia-based subsidiary of an Iranian financial institution Thursday over the bank's alleged ties to Iran's nuclear weapon's program.
Senate Follows House in Passing Measure Against Companies That Aid Iran
The Senate Banking Committee Thursday unanimously approved legislation that would enable the White House to impose fresh sanctions against companies that import refined petroleum to Iran.
Compliance officers at some of the world's largest financial institutions are concluding they need to create sanctions-specific programs to avoid regulatory penalties and tarnished reputations, according to a Deloitte survey released Monday.
The result of presidential elections this month in Iran could have a "huge" impact on whether the United States pushes to impose new economic sanctions against Iran, say analysts.
The U.S. Senate banking committee approved a bill that would ratchet up economic pressure on Iran and increase the budgets of two government agencies that enforce sanctions and counter-terrorist financing regulations.
The U.K. and the European Union will freeze the assets of Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli, over Iran's alleged plans to build a nuclear weapons program, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today during a joint press conference with President George Bush.
Israeli lawyer Itsana Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represents victims of terrorism in lawsuits against banks, spoke recently with Fortent Inform reporter Brian Orsak about the suits and what banks should be doing to better monitor for terrorists attempting to exploit the financial system.
The bank, which is based in London, expects to reach a "resolution" with the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and New York District Attorneys office, Lloyd's said in a statement Friday.
A UK High Court Justice said Thursday that terror laws that allow for the freezing of assets of suspected terrorists are unlawful. The judgment stems from an appeal brought by five individuals whose assets were frozen under a United Nations measure targeting terrorists.
The U.N. Security Council voted a third round of sanctions against Iran over its alleged ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. Fourteen of the 15 members of the Security Council supported a measure calling for tighter monitoring of Iranian financial institutions, travel bans, and cargo inspections.
Economic sanctions targeting Iran for its pursuit of nuclear weapons might not be achieving U.S. objectives and should be reconsidered, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in an audit report.
Two of the most stringent of several federal bills meant to increase pressure on Iran would forbid banks from processing transactions indirectly tied to Iranian entities. The bills, H.R.1400 and S.970, jointly called the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, would prohibit u-turn transactions.
Over the past nine months U.S. officials have met with more than 40 banks to push for stronger international sanctions against Iran.
The measure, which names Bank Sepah a financial supporter of illicit weapons proliferation, has the added force of following a U.N. resolution against Iran. That elevates the pressure U.S. allies to follow suit.
