to the United States as a penalty for helping Iran and other countries evade US banking sanctions for more than a decade.
The fine is the latest and largest assessed against four global banks for “stripping.” That is the vernacular term for stripping from financial papers any references to Iran or another country denied access to the US financial system. Instead, the bank pretends it is conducting the business on its own account.
The court filings said the ING bank moved $1.6 billion through the US financial system for the sanctioned states. So the fine of $619 million is a huge one that far, far exceeds anything ING made by moving those funds.
Altogether, four global banks have now paid he United States more than $1.8 billion after being caught “stripping.”
Most of the illegal transactions aided Iran and Cuba, though Sudan, Syria, Myanmar, Libya and others were involved as well.
US authorities said ING moved the money from the early 1990s through 2007. They said ING conducted more than 20,000 illegal transactions on behalf of sanctioned countries during that time.
Jan Hommen, ING’s chief executive, said in a statement of contrition: “The violations that took place until 2007 are serious and unacceptable.”
Previously, Credit Suisse AG agreed to pay a $536 million fine in 2009 to settle charges. Lloyds TSB Bank Plc agreed to forfeit $350 million that year. Barclays settled in 2010 for $298 million.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said, “These cases give teeth to sanctions enforcement, send a strong message about the need for transparency in international banking and ultimately contribute to the fight against money laundering and terror financing.”