Standard Chartered to pay $300m on unflagged deals

Standard Chartered plc agreed to pay $300m for failing to flag suspicious transactions, as required under a 2012 settlement with New York’s top banking regulator.

The shares rose 0.3 percent to 1,221 pence in London. They have declined 10 percent this year, making the bank the second-worst performer among Britain’s five largest lenders after Barclays plc, which has dropped about 19 percent.

Anti-money laundering controls, added as part of the earlier accord, were faulty and meant the London-based bank missed potentially high-risk transactions, many of which originated in its Hong Kong subsidiary and branches in the United Arab Emirates, the New York Department of Financial Services said.

“If a bank fails to live up to its commitments, there should be consequences,” Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky, said in yesterday’s statement.

“That is particularly true in an area as serious as anti-money-laundering compliance, which is vital to helping prevent terrorism and vile human rights abuses,” he added.