Standard Chartered (STAN) just can’t seem to shake off the fall-out from 2012’s discovery by US regulators of sanctions violations involving Iran. That led to $667m (£427m) in fines and a deferred prosecution agreement, meaning the lender could still face prosecution for these failings at some point in the future. That agreement was extended this week for a further three years, leaving the lender facing plenty more uncertainty.
Significantly, a notice was also filed in a Washington federal court just prior to the extension suggesting that the bank may have committed sanctions violations beyond those covered by 2012’s agreement. So the extension leaves the bank under an ongoing investigation and facing US oversight for three more years. That said, things could have been worse: some analysts feared more fines or that the bank’s New York licence might be under threat.
