Standard Chartered exposed US to 'terrorists, criminals' through 'Iran money laundering scheme'

London, Aug 7 (ANI): Banking giant Standard Chartered has been accused of exposing the U.S. to terrorists and criminals after it emerged that the bank "schemed" to bypass American anti-money laundering sanctions and process 250 billion dollars of transactions on behalf of Iranian clients.

New York's top financial regulator accused Standard Chartered of systematically disguising foreign exchange deals with Iran in a breach of controls that potentially opened up the US banking system to ' terrorists and drug kingpins and corrupt regimes'.

Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), in a 27-page report claimed that Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) "operated as a rogue institution", and that the bank's group directors in London were complicit, the Telegraph reports.

According to the paper, in October 2006, the head of the bank's American operations "sent a panicked message to the group executive director in London" saying that the bank's handling of Iranian clients could cause "catastrophic reputational damage".

The unnamed director allegedly replied, "You f****** Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we're not going to deal with Iranians."

DFS's order to revoke the bank's licence triggered a six percent drop in Standard Chartered's share price in the minutes left before the markets closed, the paper said. he order claimed that Standard Chartered devised a system to disguise the identity of Iranian client transactions in a deliberate effort to bypass US anti-money laundering defences, it added.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered, has said that they are conducting a review of its historical US sanctions compliance and is discussing that review with US enforcement agencies and regulators.The Group cannot predict when this review and these discussions will be completed or what the outcome will be," it added. (ANI)