Daily World News

The Bank of England criticized New York financial regulators Wednesday for unilaterally accusing Standard Chartered of illegally laundering oil money for Iran, while the chief executive of the embattled London bank denied claims of systematic sanctions-busting.

On Monday, the New York State Department of Financial Services accused Standard Chartered of laundering $250 billion of Iranian oil money over a decade in defiance of an American order prohibiting such transactions. The bank admits violations totaling $14 million.

Responding to questions at a news conference, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King contrasted the Standard Chartered case with the way in which U.S. and British agencies dealt with their investigation of Barclays’ manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR), a key interest rate index.

“In the LIBOR one, all the regulators involved, whether it be in the United States or in England, produced coordinated publication of reports which came out after the investigation was completed and they had made their judgments,” King said.

“That’s very different from what’s happened in the Standard Chartered case where one regulator, but not the others, has gone public while the investigation is still going on.”

King said he did not believe that U.S. authorities were singling out British banks for attention. “Clearly if there has been wrongdoing, then action should certainly be taken.”

The New York Statement Department of Financial Services came into being in October last year, replacing the previous regulator, the Banking Department.