Standard Chartered Finalizes $340M Settlement of Money-Laundering Probe

Standard Chartered Bank has finalized a $340 million settlement with New York's top banking regulator to settle charges the bank laundered hundreds of billions of dollars for banks and others in Iran.

The pact, which Standard Chartered consented to preliminarily in August, stems from allegations the bank tried to hide from regulators roughly 59,000 transactions worth $250 billion it processed for Iranian customers over a six-year period beginning in January 2001, according to an order signed Friday by Standard Chartered and Benjamin Lawsky, New York's superintendent of financial services.

U.S. law prohibits banks from providing services to Iran as a result of the country's support for terrorism and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

In addition to paying the civil penalty, Standard Chartered has agreed to install an independent monitor to evaluate controls governing cash transactions at its New York branch and to hire personnel to audit its compliance with money-laundering regulations.