Lawmakers should press ahead with Iran sanctions bills despite pressure to put off new restrictions while American and Iranian officials hold nuclear talks, according to David Ibsen, executive director of United Against Nuclear Iran.
After a busy year for federal sanctions officials, large banks with international footprints are increasingly instituting deeper, standalone audits of their related policies and procedures, say compliance officers and consultants.
The United States exempted seven nations Monday from sanctions against Iran signed into law in December after the jurisdictions curbed their purchases of oil from the Persian country.
Proposals to bar Iranian financial institutions from a global interbank messaging service would impose additional costs on Iran's banks without entirely blocking them from accessing Western financial institutions.
An executive order signed Sunday to implement new banking sanctions against Iran doesnt clarify the extent to which U.S. financial institutions must peel back transactions to discover potential links to Iran.
The U.S. Treasury Department Monday sanctioned Iran's third largest bank hours after the European Union agreed to freeze the assets of the Middle Eastern nation's central bank.
The authors of a U.S. embargo against Iran's central bank and petroleum industry called on the White House Thursday to be strict with foreign financial institutions under the law's statutes.
U.S. and foreign banks are awaiting official guidance on how to adhere to a new American sanctions law against the Central Bank of Iran before implementing its screening procedures.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday overwhelmingly approved bills that would restrict loans and interbank transfers of credit involving entities that facilitate Iran's petroleum and weapons trade.