Deutsche Bank Fined $200 Million for Violating U.S. Sanctions

Deutsche Bank of Germany has accepted allegations of financial transactions with entities under U.S. sanctions in countries such as Iran and Syria. On Tuesday, November 3, AFP reported, citing an informed source, that Deutsche Bank will pay a fine of approximately $200 million to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the New York State Department of Financial Services as a penalty for this action. According to this source, the details of the payment and its amount will be officially announced later this week. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank officials have not confirmed or denied this report. The case against Deutsche Bank regarding violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran was opened about three years ago. The bank was accused of conducting billions of dollars in financial transactions with these entities through its branches in the U.S. after 2008, when the U.S. government prohibited monetary transfers with Iranian economic entities. However, at that time, a spokesperson for Deutsche Bank denied these allegations, emphasizing that the bank decided to cease its transactions with Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea in 2007. During this period, several other European banks have also been fined heavily in the U.S. for similar allegations, including the French bank BNP Paribas, which agreed to pay a fine of about $9 billion last year. Swiss bank HSBC, Dutch bank ING, and Britain's Standard Chartered are also among the banks that have paid hefty fines in this regard. However, it seems that Deutsche Bank's allegations are not limited to violations of U.S. sanctions. AFP, citing the same source, reports that the bank is also accused of committing fraud related to the foreign exchange market and facilitating money laundering in Russia. It is unclear whether the $200 million fine also includes these allegations. In this context, Standard Chartered was fined an additional $327 million for sanctions violations, HSBC faced a billion-dollar fine for money laundering related to Iran, and a Japanese bank was fined for violating sanctions against Iran. The second-largest bank in Germany is likely to face further penalties for violating Iran sanctions, and investigations are ongoing regarding potential sanctions violations by Standard Chartered.