Standard Chartered agrees £217m settlement with US regulators

Standard Chartered has agreed to pay £217m to New York regulators to settle claims of alleged money laundering with Iran.

The bank’s shares dropped as much as 24 per cent at one stage last week after the New York State Department of Financial Services accused the bank of hiding £160bn in transactions linked to Iran, which violates US law. The bank had been threatened that its US banking licence may be revoked.

The US regulator added that the bank had hidden as many as 60,000 transactions for “Iranian financial institutions” that were subject to economic sanctions.

Commenting on the agreement, the US regulator said: “The New York State Department of Financial Services and Standard Chartered Bank have reached an agreement to settle the matter raised in the DFS order dated 6 August, 2012,”

“The parties have agreed that the conduct at issue involved transactions of at least £160bn.”

Standard Chartered said a formal agreement containing the detailed terms of the settlement is expected to be concluded shortly. The bank said it continued to “engage constructively” with the US authorities and that New York Department of Financial Services examiners shall be placed on site at the bank.

Investigations by other US authorities will not be prevented by the settlement.

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