“The U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve were blindsided and angered by New York’s banking regulator’s decision to launch an explosive attack on Standard Chartered Plc over $250 billion in alleged money laundering transactions tied to Iran, sources familiar with the situation said. . . .
As part of a review the bank sought to give to regulators, Standard Chartered hired Promontory Financial Group . . . to review Standard Chartered’s transactions tied to Iran. The bank’s review ultimately settled on the figure of less than $14 million for improper transactions.
Lawsky’s agency also received the Standard Chartered internal review, according to people familiar with the situation. But the new regulator had little interest in a settlement that didn’t yield embarrassing details about Standard Chartered’s activities, these people said.” (Huffington Post)
The announcement alone knocked $17 billion off the bank’s market value and put the new regulator on every front page.
FEE Timely Classic
“Regulatory Extortion” by Thomas J. DiLorenzo