The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a $329,593,585 settlement with Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CA-CIB) to settle potential civil liability for apparent violations of U.S. sanctions. The settlement resolves OFAC’s investigation into CA-CIB’s use of payment practices that interfered with the implementation of U.S. economic sanctions by financial institutions in the United States. Various CA-CIB entities used cover payments and/or implemented special payment practices in a manner that omitted references to U.S.-sanctioned parties in U.S. Dollar Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication payment messages sent to the United States, thereby preventing U.S. financial institutions from appropriately reviewing and analyzing the transactions for compliance with OFAC regulations. CA-CIB utilized these practices in 4,297 financial transactions routed to or through banks in the United States between 2003 and 2008 primarily in apparent violation of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 538; as well as the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515; the Burmese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 537; and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560. CA-CIB’s settlement with OFAC is simultaneous with settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice, the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the New York State Department of Financial Services.
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