UK’s Standard Chartered Accused of Funding Sanctioned Terrorist Entities

Standard Chartered, one of the UK’s largest banks, has been accused of facilitating billions in transactions for sanctioned entities, including terrorist organisations, according to new court filings in New York. Documents reveal that from 2008 to 2013, the bank allegedly processed over $100 billion in transactions that breached sanctions against Iran.

An independent expert has identified $9.6 billion of these transactions as involving individuals and companies designated by the US government as funding terror groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban. In a statement, Standard Chartered disputes these claims, asserting that previous allegations had been “thoroughly discredited” by US authorities.

In 2012, the bank was accused of falsifying transaction data on Swift, an international payment system, to move billions through its New York branch on behalf of sanctioned entities, including the Central Bank of Iran. That same year, then-Chancellor George Osborne secretly intervened on behalf of the bank, leading to the US Department of Justice dropping plans for prosecution. Instead, the bank was fined $300 million and entered a deferred prosecution agreement.

Newly uncovered data by whistleblowers, including former Standard Chartered executive Julian Knight, indicate that the bank continued illicit transactions after claiming to have stopped in 2007. This includes transactions for a Pakistani fertiliser company known for supplying explosive materials to the Taliban and a Gambian front company linked to Hezbollah financier Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi.

David Scantling, an expert in counter-terrorist financing, states in a recent court filing that hidden data in bank spreadsheets reveal more than half a million cloaked transactions between 2008 and 2013. His analysis contradicts earlier statements by US authorities that no violations were found.

Daniel Alter, former general counsel at the New York Department of Financial Services, called the new disclosures “shocking” and “exponentially worse” than the bank’s admissions in 2012. He highlighted the grave implications of the bank’s alleged actions, stating, “It’s a whole different story.”

Standard Chartered, headquartered in London, serves customers primarily in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The bank has faced multiple fines for breaching sanctions, totalling over $1.7 billion. It remains confident that the courts will reject the latest claims, labelling them as meritless.

According to BBC, the FBI and the US Department of Justice have declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

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