have disregarded American sanctions and routed money to Iran – using American branches of their partner banks.
New York-based investigators are combing through previous transactions in search of more information about the banks’ dealings with Iran. In particular, they are looking to understand how exactly Chinese banks were able to route billions of dollars to Iran. This knowledge will be be useful in further tightening the financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
British bank Standard Chartered acknowledged last month that it secretly moved at least a quarter trillion dollars of Iranian money by 60,000 transactions spanning several years through the US banking system.
Another British bank, HSBC, is also under investigation by US authorities.
The two British banks have extensive presence in Asian countries. Investigators hope to learn whether Chinese banks used the American branches of these banks to transfer money into Iran. Authorities are also hoping that, through the investigation, executives from the British banks would, as part of settlements, be more forthcoming with information about Chinese banks’ independent relationships with Iran.
American authorities currently do not have enough information to open a formal investigation against Chinese banks.
US and EU economic and financial sanctions have effectively cut off Iran from international financial and banking markets, making it extremely difficult to obtain hard cash. Reports have surfaced that, as a result of these difficulties, Iran is now accepting payments in gold from some oil-buying countries such as Turkey. However, these new American investigations reveal that Chinese banks may be disregarding American sanctions and helping route much-needed cash dollars to Iran.
American investigators have brought cases against several European banks since 2009, unearthing valuable information through them about Chinese banks’ dealings with Iran. Some of these banks, such as Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered, have settled with American investigators and agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars.