US fine dents Standard Chartered profits

[October 30, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- U.K.-based bank Standard Chartered said Tuesday that its operating profit for the first nine months has been badly dented by a settlement with a U.S. authority over alleged sanctions violations.

The bank agreed in August to pay $340 million to a New York regulator to settle accusations that it hid illegal transactions with Iran and violated U.S. sanctions law. Investigations by other U.S. agencies are continuing.

In a trading update, the bank said the payment pushed operating profit down into the mid-single digits from the double-digit range.

Standard Chartered PLC did not release detailed earnings and income figures for the period.

Its shares were down 1.2 percent at 1,480 pence in London trading.

The New York regulator had threatened to revoke the bank's license to operate in the state, which would have wiped out Standard Chartered's dollar-based businesses.

The regulator accused the bank of conspiring with Iran to launder $250 billion from 2001 to 2007.

Standard Chartered contended that "well over 99.9 percent" of the questioned transactions with Iran complied with all regulations and the few transactions that didn't amounted to $14 million.

[Associated Press]

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