is currently under investigation by US authorities on suspicion of helping the Islamic Republic evade US banking restrictions.
Numerous other banks have been caught in such illegalities and have had to pay huge fines— in one case, more than a half billion dollars—for their conduct.
Commerzbank announced last week that it was under investigation and said it was cooperating with US investigators.
The Frankfurt-based company announced Thursday, “It is premature to assess the outcome or timing of the investigation and what, if any, impact financially or otherwise it may have on the bank.” Barclays Plc agreed in August to pay $298 million and Credit Suisse Group AG paid $536 million last year to settle claims after they were caugh helping Iran and other nations avoid the US ban on any transactions by those countries going through US banks.
The main technique used was to scrub all references to Iran from bank documents in order to make it look like the bank was processing the transactions on its own account.
