Standard Chartered Plc has agreed to a New York Department of Financial Services demand that the bank hire an outside monitor to ensure compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. The agreement on the monitor, mandated by the regulator in an Aug. 6 order, stems from negotiations between the bank and state officials ahead of an Aug. 15 hearing at which Standard Chartered will be asked to explain why its license to do business in New York should not be revoked. New York banking Superintendant Benjamin Lawsky alleged London-based Standard Chartered flouted U.S. banking laws as part of a decade-long deception, helping launder about $250 billion in Iranian funds in contravention of U.S. statutes and without proper disclosure. Lawsky is said to seek as much as $700 million to settle the investigation.
