StanChart fails to reduce US sanctions and breach claims in London lawsuit
FILE PHOTO: The Standard Chartered bank logo is seen at its headquarters in London, Britain, July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo
Standard Chartered on Monday lost a bid to end a lawsuit in London alleging it violated U.S. sanctions on Iran in a more widespread manner than it previously admitted.
More than 200 investors have sued Standard Chartered in London’s High Court over allegedly untrue statements about sanctions failures between 2007 and 2019.
The lawsuit comes after the London-based bank agreed to pay $1.1 billion to US and British authorities in 2019 over transactions that violated sanctions on Iran and other countries.
The 2019 deal extended for two years a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement with Standard Chartered, under which the bank paid US authorities $667 million.
However, the investors allege that Standard Chartered is in “industrial-scale non-compliance with sanctions” that go beyond what the bank has admitted to regulators.
Standard Chartered, which strongly denies the allegations, sought to dismiss allegations of non-compliance with sanctions, which were not covered by admissions to regulators.
Last year the High Court ruled that the allegations should go to trial, likely to be heard in late 2026, and Standard Chartered’s appeal against that decision was dismissed on Monday.
Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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First print: June 17, 2024 | 4:48 pm IST