Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has been fined $5,750,000 by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to settle allegations it violated the OFAC sanctions regime.
The alleged violations include manipulating SWIFT payment messages to strip out information which would identify sanctioned entities, earning the bank a place among other sanction-bending institutions, known as the ‘strip club', according to Nicholas Hills, senior associate of international law firm, BakerPlatt Group. ANZ is believed to have breached the Sudenese Sanctions Regulations and the Cuban Assets Control Regulations between 2004 and 2006 through trade finance and foreign currency exchange activities via US correspondent accounts, says Hills. According to the settlement agreem...
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