Bank’s dirty cash shame

Standard Chartered to pay penalty

UK-BASED banking giant Standard Chartered has been fined more than £800million over a series of moneylaundering claims.

The industry heavyweight has agreed settlements with authorities in the UK and US after allegations it violated sanctions against several countries, including Iran, and had lax dirty-money controls.

In one example, it allowed an account to be opened with the equivalent of £500,000 in cash in a suitcase with little evidence of where the money came from.

Another involved a customer who exported potentially miliary-grade equipment to two war zones.

The bulk of the settlement relates to breaches of US sanctions against several countries. It was also fined £102 million by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority,

Mark Steward, of the FCA, said: “Standard Chartered’s oversight of its financial crime controls was narrow, slow and reactive.”

It marks the resolution of a number of investigations into Standard Chartered’s violations, all of which pre-dated 2014.

Chief executive Bill Winters said: “The circumstances that led to today’s resolutions are completely unacceptable and not representative of the Standard Chartered I am proud to lead today. Fighting financial crime is central to who we are; we do not tolerate misconduct or lax controls and we will continue to root out any issues that threaten the trust we have built over more than 160 years.”

Standard Chartered agreed to enter into amended deferred prosecution agreements with the US Justice Department and the Manhattan District Attorney for conspiring to violate sanctions and falsifying New York business records.