Nasdaq to pay $4 million settlement over apparent Iran sanctions violations

[December 09, 2023]  (Reuters) - New York-based stock exchange Nasdaq Inc agreed to pay a $4 million settlement to the U.S. Department of Treasury over apparent violations of sanctions against Iran by a former Nasdaq unit, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Friday. 

The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Nasdaq Market site in Times Square in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

Nasdaq OMX Armenia provided services to Iran and Iran's state-owned Bank Mellat, it said.

"The settlement amount reflects OFAC's determination that Nasdaq's conduct was non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed," OFAC said.

Nasdaq said in an emailed statement that the settlement acknowledged mitigating factors, including Nasdaq's voluntary disclosure of the transactions in 2014 and its sale of the Armenian subsidiary in 2018.

Nasdaq acquired the Armenian Stock Exchange, subsequently renamed Nasdaq OMX Armenia, when it acquired Swedish financial company OMX AB in February 2008.

(Reporting by Devika Nair and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Jose Joseph; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.