The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) today announced a $132 million agreement with Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”) to settle the bank’s potential liability for apparent violations of U.S. sanctions. Today’s settlement resolves OFAC’s investigation into the removal or omission by SCB’s London head office and Dubai branch of material references to U.S.-sanctioned locations or entities from payment messages sent to U.S. financial institutions, in apparent violation of the Iranian Transactions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560; the Burmese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 537; the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 538; and the now-repealed version of the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 550, which was in effect until 2004. Eight apparent violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations by SCB’s New York branch, which occurred later and apart from the above conduct, were also settled. SCB’s settlement with OFAC is simultaneous with the bank’s settlements with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice's National Security Division, the Department of Justice's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and the New York County District Attorney’s Office; as well as orders involving the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
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