Société Générale S.A. of Paris, France has agreed to pay U.S. federal and state authorities $1.34 billion to resolve legal disputes due to the firm’s violations of U.S. sanctions against Cuba and other countries.
According to Reuters, the bank also agreed to pay $95 million to settle another dispute over violations of anti-money laundering regulations.
“We acknowledge and regret the shortcomings that were identified in these settlements, and have cooperated with the U.S. Authorities to resolve these matters,” the bank’s chief executive Frédéric Oudéa said in a statement. “These resolutions, following on the heels of the resolution of other investigations earlier this year, allow the Bank to close a chapter on our most important historical disputes.”
The fines were issued by the Federal Reserve, U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the New York Department of Financial Services.
From 2003 to 2013, U.S. authorities said that the bank executed billions of dollars in illegal transactions to parties in countries that had embargoes or sanctions imposed by the United States, including Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Libya.
The $1.34 billion in penalties is the second largest imposed on a bank for violating U.S. sanctions.
“Thanks to our unique jurisdiction, expertise, and our prosecutors’ hard work, the Manhattan D.A.’s Office stands alone among state and local law enforcement agencies in our contributions to America’s longstanding effort to promote peace, democracy, and a world free of crime and terror, through the aggressive enforcement of U.S. sanctions and New York criminal laws,” District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said in a press release.
The Federal Reserve added that the bank must implement a program to ensure global compliance with U.S. sanctions, and is also prohibited from re-employing the individuals involved in the past actions or retaining them as consultants or contractors.
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