Standard Chartered is in talks to pay up to $300m to New York’s top banking regulator to settle allegations that it failed to identify suspicious transactions, despite promising to improve procedures after it was fined for violating sanctions rules two years ago.
New York’s Department of Financial Services could announce the settlement this week, people familiar with the matter said. StanChart will also probably agree to disciplinary measures, such as extending the contract of an independent monitor charged with rooting out dubious transactions.
The current investigation is a follow-up to the bank’s 2012 settlement with US authorities, including the DFS, which alleged StanChart violated US sanctions laws that prohibited transactions with Sudan, Iran, Libya and Myanmar. As part of that $667m agreement– $340m of which went to New York authorities – StanChart agreed to put in place an independent monitor to evaluate the bank’s adherence to the settlement and to ensure it stopped processing prohibited transactions.