Another foreign bank doing business in the US has agreed to settle with the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS“) over allegations that it violated federal economic sanctions. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Japan’s largest bank, has agreed to pay US$250 million to the NYDFS to settle allegations that it provided US$100 billion in financial services to restricted designated entities and persons in sanctioned countries, including Sudan, Iran and Myanmar over a five year period. It has also agreed to engage anti-money laundering specialists to advise in respect of, and improve, its compliance regime.
According to the NYDFS, the bank routinely and deliberately omitted required information in SWIFT messages related to sanctioned countries to avoid the freezing of assets in connection therewith.