US extends monitoring of Standard Chartered bank

US authorities will monitor Britain's Standard Chartered bank for another three years, following the large fines paid in 2012 for sanctions violations, the lender said Wednesday.
Standard Chartered said in a statement that it has "agreed to extend the Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) entered into in December 2012 with the US Department of Justice and the New York County District Attorney's Office."
The lender added that the authorities "have agreed a further three-year extension of the DPAs until 10 December 2017, and the retention of a monitor to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the group's sanctions compliance programme".
Back in 2012, the bank had paid $667 million to settle charges it violated US sanctions by handling thousands of money transactions involving Iran, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.
Standard Chartered said it had already taken "a number of steps to comply with the requirements of the original DPAs and to enhance and optimise its sanctions compliance".
Those measures included "the implementation of more rigorous US sanctions policies and procedures, certified staff training, hiring of senior legal and financial crime compliance staff and recently implementing additional measures to block payment instructions for countries subject to US sanctions laws and regulations".
The British-based emerging markets bank also revealed Wednesday that it was cooperating with "an ongoing US sanctions-related investigation".
It added: "Additional time is needed to complete the investigation and determine whether any violations have occurred.
"The group remains committed to full cooperation with the authorities during this investigation, alongside an extensive programme of compliance improvements.
"The group will provide a further update in the event of relevant future developments."
In August earlier this year, Standard Chartered was hit by US regulators with a $300 million fine and restrictions on its dollar-clearing business for failing to detect possible money-laundering.