Credit Agricole fined $787 mn for breaking US Iran sanctions

French bank Credit Agricole will pay a $787 million fine and install an independent monitor to resolve charges it violated US sanctions on Iran and other countries, US regulators announced Tuesday.

Regulators charged Credit Agricole with intentionally mis-labelling thousands of transactions during 2003-2008 to disguise from US regulators payments and transfers from parties in Iran, Sudan, Myanmar and Cuba that were sanctioned under US law.

The bank entered into a deferred prosecution with the US Justice Department and signed off on a criminal information statement that charged it with knowingly and willingly conspiring to defraud the US, the Justice Department said.

"Sanctions laws are critical to both our national security and foreign policy interests," said US Attorney Channing Phillips.

"Although Credit Agricole moved quickly to end these unlawful transactions and fully cooperated with investigators, today's resolution demonstrates that there will be significant consequences for any financial institution that allows its foreign subsidiaries that do not intend to respect US law to, nevertheless, access the US financial system."

From 2003 to 2008, Credit Agricole disguised more than $32 billion in US dollar payments with sanctioned parties, said the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Under the settlement, Credit Agricole will pay $385 million to the New York DFS, $90.3 million to the Federal Reserve, $156 million to the Manhattan District Attorney and $156 million to the Justice Department.

The Treasury Department also signed off on the agreement through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, which said it has "no tolerance for the intentional concealment of sanctions-related information in payments sent to the United States and US financial institutions."

The DFS ordered the French bank to dismiss one additional employee involved who remains at the bank. This employee drafted a memo directing efforts to conceal Iranian payments, DFS said.

Credit Agricole has already fired other employees involved in the scheme, the DFS said.