The United Kingdom's Supreme Court decision in favor of Bank Mellat, Iran's largest private bank, will not weaken overall sanctions on Iran, U.K. legal and banking sources said.
Foreign financial institutions and other non-U.S. companies newly tasked with disclosing when their affiliates deal with Iranian government officials are finding the requirements onerous, according to compliance officers and consultants.
The government of Iran and banks under its influence are increasingly using investments in foreign financial institutions as a means to circumvent sanctions, including restrictions on interbank messages, say sources.
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 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.
A U.S. official's threat last month of economic sanctions against four Chinese banks is likely to be toothless given economic and enforcement hurdles, say sanctions analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department would have 90 days to issue regulations obligating banks to audit their correspondent relationships for possible ties to blacklisted Iranians, under a bipartisan bill reintroduced Wednesday.
China and other U.S. trading partners continue to provide Iran with energy and banking services five months after the passage of new comprehensive sanctions against the country, lawmakers said Wednesday.
The Council of the European Union agreed Monday to implement economic sanctions against Iran, including prohibitions on transactions involving Iranian banks and energy companies.
Lawmakers passed a tough new sanctions measure against Iran Thursday that would require U.S. banks to determine whether the foreign financial institutions they have correspondent relationships with bank certain Iranians.
The U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday added another Iranian bank to its list of 16 Iran-controlled financial institutions that U.S. companies are prohibited from doing business with.
The U.S. Senate won't consider an Iran sanctions bill overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday until a negotiation deadline set by the Obama administration expires, say analysts.
The head of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee will soon introduce a bill to broaden sanctions against financial institutions and other businesses tied to Iran and the country's nuclear ambitions.
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