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Standard Chartered agrees $340m settlement with US regulator
Standard Chartered has agreed to pay a $340m (£217m) fine to US regulators after it was accused of trying to hide up to $250bn of transactions with Iran.
Although the bank’s chief executive, Peter Sands, refuted the claims and said only $14m of transactions broke US sanctions, the settlement was agreed after ongoing negotiations with the regulator. Wednesday’s hearing has now been adjourned, according to the BBC.
A statement from the regulator said: “The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) 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 $250bn.”
However, Standard Chartered still faces probes from other regulatory bodies for the claims as Bloomberg reported the US Treasury, Federal Reserve, Justice Departmern and Manhattan District Attorney declined to agree to a joint settlement.
The fine does not take into account all of the alleged violations including covering up similar transanctions with Sudan.
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The settlement follows an array of regulatory issues for British banks which have resulted in a £290m fine for Barclays, for fixing the rate of LIBOR, while HSBC reportedly faces a $1bn fine for allowing drug gangs to launder money through its systems.
Shares in the bank were 3% higher at £14.11 in early trading in London.