US Treasury Dept says ING to pay $619mn settlement | WPN World People News

ING Bank, global financial institution of Dutch origin, has reached an agreement with the US authorities to pay a penalty of $619 million for alleged violation of economic sanctions on Iran, Cuba and other countries by routing over $1.6 billion illegal transactions through America.

The agreement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the largest, the US Treasury Department said Tuesday.

The Dutch bank has also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the District Attorney of the County of New York, it said in a statement.

The penalty is related to OFAC's investigation into ING Bank's intentional manipulation and deletion of information about US-sanctioned parties in more than 20,000 financial and trade transactions routed through third-party banks located in the America between 2002 and 2007, according to a US Treasury Department statement.

During the period from 2002-2007, the US government had placed restrictions on several countries, including Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Burma and Libya, as well as certain individuals and entities, from accessing the US banking system.

The US Treasury pointed out that neither ING Bank's insurance nor its banking operations in the United States were subjects of the investigation.

The Treasury's OFAC referred the apparent violations for criminal investigation in light of their number, "the array of stratagems employed by ING Bank to conceal its actions, and the seriousness of the conduct, which in some cases was ongoing for a very long period of time."

"Today's historic settlement should serve as a clear warning to anyone who would consider profiting by evading US sanctions," said Adam Szubin, director of OFAC.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Lisa Monaco, said the fine "underscores the national security implications of ING Bank's criminal conduct.

"For more than a decade, ING Bank helped provide state sponsors of terror and other sanctioned entities with access to the US financial system, allowing them to move billions of dollars through US banks for illicit purchases and other activities," she said.

In violation of the sanctions, ING's wholesale banking division in the island of Curacao and its units in France, Belgium and the Netherlands omitted references to Cuba in payment messages sent to the US, at the instruction of senior bank officials, in order to prevent US financial firms from identifying prohibited transactions, the Treasury Department said.

In addition, ING's senior management in France authorized providing fraudulent endorsement stamps for use by Cuban institutions in processing travelers checks.

Payments made on behalf of US-sanctioned Cuban clients were routed through other corporate clients, and an ING Romanian branch omitted details from a letter of credit involving a US financial institution to finance the export of US-origin goods to Iran.

The Treasury said that ING Bank had assured OFAC that it has ended the conduct that had led to the settlement. Under the settlement agreement, ING Bank is required to submit a report on its transactions to OFAC ensuring that they are compliant with US sanctions.

ING Bank will pay the $619 million settlement to the US Department of Justice and the New York County District Attorney' Office.

As announced on 9 May 2012, ING Bank took a provision in the first quarter of 2012 to cover this issue.

ING Bank previously disclosed in its annual reports and other public filings that it was in discussions with authorities concerning compliance with OFAC requirements in relation to transactions executed by Commercial Banking.

"The violations that took place until 2007 are serious and unacceptable. The facts as compiled in the statement of the Department of Justice describe a very different ING than the company we're all working so hard for today," said Jan Hommen, CEO of ING Group.

Source: United States News.Net