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For Banks, Relaxation of Iran Sanctions Raises Questions with Opportunities
By Brian Monroe
printAs early as Monday, banks will be able to do what has become seemingly unthinkable in the sanctions compliance field during recent years: ramp up their ties to Iran. Under a multilateral accord set to take effect in three days, the United States and five other nations will temporarily lift some sanctions against the Persian nation. Contingent on the findings of nuclear inspectors examining Iran's uranium production, U.S. officials are expected to scale back sanctions imposed in 1995, 2012 and 2013 over the next six months. Starting Jan. 20, the United States will roll back sanctions on petrochemical and automotive...
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Several financial institutions in the European Union and Asia are "ring-fencing" their American employees and taking other preliminary steps to reengage with Iran months after economic sanctions were eased under a global nuclear accord.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure Thursday that would give lawmakers a framework to review the Obama administration's sanctions-related nuclear agreement with Iran.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously passed amended legislation that would grant Congress greater control over a potential nuclear accord to lift Iran sanctions.
U.S. lawmakers may soon have enough support to pass a veto-proof measure that would clear the way for sanctions against foreign banks that deal with blacklisted Iranian entities in foreign currencies.
American elections, EU court decisions and a potential wind-down of negotiations with Iran are complicating efforts by the United States and Europe to maintain uniformity in sanctions enforcement, say analysts.
For the first time, U.S. officials have blacklisted a foreign financial institution using a July 2012 executive order that prohibits significant transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.
Even with limited sanctions relief from the United States, foreign banks have been reluctant to process transactions for Iran under the terms of a newly-extended multilateral accord, an American official said Tuesday.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday unanimously approved a measure that would penalize foreign banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
U.S. officials Tuesday charged a blacklisted Chinese national with using shell companies to maintain accounts at American banks and offered five million dollars for information on his whereabouts.
Nearly a month after the start of a 6-month abatement of Iran sanctions, U.S. officials have offered scant details on a promised financial stream for charitable donations to the country. In fact, say some humanitarian aid groups, nothing has changed at all.
The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday accused the owners of a Georgian bank and more than a dozen others of secretly helping Iran and Syria skirt economic sanctions.
Foreign banks and companies will only reenter the Iranian market upon the finalization of a comprehensive, permanent nuclear agreement with the country, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The financial clearing subsidiary of Deutsche Börse AG will pay the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions enforcer $152 million for holding money in New York-based accounts on behalf of Iran's central bank.
Governmental documents published Monday cleared the way for foreign financial institutions to process limited transactions for Iranians but U.S. banks will be unlikely to relax their sanctions policies, according to experts.
A bipartisan bill filed Thursday in the U.S. Senate would impose new trade and banking restrictions on Iran if it fails to meet the terms of last months multinational nuclear agreement.
The chairman of a Senate committee vowed Thursday to block additional sanctions against Iran in an effort to protect last month's multilateral accord to suspend portions of the country's nuclear program.
Western financial institutions won't radically amend their sanctions controls in response to an agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a relaxation of banking restrictions, say former officials.
Despite tightened controls on interbank messaging, some bankers looking to hide the role of their blacklisted clients in international wires need only type a single key on their keyboard, according to experts.
Federal officials will weigh whether financial institutions can bank medical marijuana shops, New York's financial regulators asks two financial consultancies for data and more, in this week's news roundup.
Germany's BaFin is reportedly investigating potential AML violations by Deutsche Bank, a U.K. court could order the British government to pay millions to compensate a blacklisted Iranian bank, and more, in this midweek roundup.