Hot on the heels of the recent HSBC involvement in money laundering for Mexican drug traffickers and Barclays' role in rigging the Libor interest rates, we now hear that another British bank -- Standard Chartered -- enabled Iranian banks and corporations to hide roughly 60,000 illegal transactions worth at least $250 billion within the bank, New York State’s banking regulator charged Monday.
http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2012/08/06/n-y-regulator-accuses-standard-chartered-of-illegal-transfers/
According to the British "Telegraph" newspaper, Standard Chartered is accused of leaving the US financial system "vulnerable to terrorists, weapons dealers, drug kingpins and corrupt regimes"...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/alistair-osborne/9457293/Iranian-terrorism-charges-put-Standard-Chartered-in-the-dock.html
According to Reuters: In a rare look inside a bank, the regulator described how Standard Chartered officials debated whether to continue Iranian dealings. In October 2006, the top official for business in the Americas, whom the regulator did not name, warned in a "panicked message" that the Iranian dealings could cause "catastrophic reputational damage" and "serious criminal liability."
A top executive in London shot back: "You f---ing Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we're not going to deal with Iranians." The reply showed "obvious contempt for U.S. banking regulations," the regulator said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-standardchartered-iran-idUSBRE8750VM20120806?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71
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