(单词翻译:单击)
Standard Chartered’s anti-money laundering settlement with New York’s leading financial watchdog is raising hackles with other regulators around the world.
渣打(Standard Chartered)与纽约州主要金融监管机构达成的反洗钱和解协议,正在惹恼世界各地的其他监管机构。
The United Arab Emirates’ central bank on Thursday warned the London-listed lender that it may face litigation from thousands of its customers in the Gulf country, which it is being forced to “exit” under the terms of the settlement.
阿联酋央行周四警告称,在伦敦上市的渣打可能面临这个海湾国家数千客户的诉讼。根据上述和解协议的条款,渣打将被迫“退出”与这些客户的合同关系。
The UAE’s warning comes after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority reacted to a ban on StanChart’s ability to clear US dollar payments for some clients in Hong Kong by defending its own “robust” anti-money laundering regime.
阿联酋发出警告之前,香港金融管理局(HKMA)对于禁止渣打为香港某些客户清算美元付款的禁令作出反应,为香港的“健全”反洗钱制度进行辩护。
The HKMA said it had been monitoring StanChart’s anti-money laundering controls, adding: “Although we have identified some areas for improvement, they are not issues that cause significant supervisory concerns.”
香港金管局表示,它一直在监督渣打的反洗钱管控措施,并补充称:“虽然我们发现一些有待改善之处,但并不构成重大监管关注。”
The settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services, which included a $300m fine, followed the discovery of a flaw in StanChart’s transaction monitoring system that flouted the terms of a 2012 settlement for violating sanctions with countries including Iran.
渣打与纽约州金融服务管理局(New York Department of Financial Services,简称DFS)达成包括3亿美元罚款的和解之前,该行的交易监控系统被发现存在一个漏洞,违反了该行在2012年因违反制裁(伊朗等国)规定而达成的和解协议的条款。
The DFS reckons the flaw in the bank’s surveillance systems allowed millions of suspicious payments for Hong Kong and UAE clients to go unreported for years.
DFS估计,该行监控系统中的漏洞,使得香港和阿联酋客户在多年期间作出的数以百万计的可疑支付未能得到报告。
StanChart has been given 90 days by the US regulator to sell or close the accounts of its small business clients in the UAE. The Gulf country’s central bank said 1,400 to 8,000 accounts could be affected.
美国的这家监管机构给渣打90天时间出售或关闭阿联酋小企业客户的账户。阿联酋央行表示,可能有1400至8000个账户受到影响。
The central bank added that StanChart would be liable to legal action by the account holders “because of the material and moral damage which is falling on them”.
阿联酋央行补充称,渣打可能会面对账户持有人发起的法律行动,因为这些客户遭受了“物质和精神损害”。
StanChart said: “We have noted the announcement made by the UAE central bank. We always work with our regulators to achieve the right outcomes.”
渣打表示:“我们已注意到阿联酋央行的声明。我们始终与我们的监管机构合作,以获得正确的结果。”
Punishment doled out by US regulators to foreign banks has become a regular source of tension with other regulators. French officials were furious about what they saw as a “crazily disproportionate” fine of almost $9bn meted out to BNP Paribas in June for sanctions violations.
美国监管机构对外资银行进行的处罚,已成为与海外监管机构关系紧张的常态化来源。6月,法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)因违反制裁规定而在美国被罚近90亿美元,法国官员对于他们眼中这一“离谱至极”的处罚极为震怒。
A person close to StanChart said it was already exiting its small and medium enterprise operation in the UAE as part of a strategic shift to withdraw from “non-strategic businesses” that have become uneconomic because of the cost of doing due diligence.
接近渣打的一名人士表示,作为战略转移的一部分,该行本来就在退出阿联酋的中小企业业务。该战略的目的是撤出“非战略性业务”,因为开展尽职调查的成本已使此类业务在经济上不可行。
Much of the UAE’s financial activity is based in Dubai, which acts as a financial hub for companies across the Middle East. HSBC, which paid $1.9bn in fines to US regulators after admitting money laundering and sanctions violations in 2012, has closed down UAE accounts linked to Iranian and Syrian nationals as it moves to limit US regulatory reprisals.
阿联酋的很大一部分金融活动位于迪拜,对中东各地的企业来说,迪拜扮演着一个金融枢纽的角色。曾在2012年承认违反反洗钱和制裁规定、并向美国监管机构支付19亿美元罚款的汇丰(HSBC),为了限制美国的监管报复,已在阿联酋关闭了所有与伊朗和叙利亚国民有关联的账户。
StanChart has started talks with local banks about selling its portfolio of SME clients in the UAE and expects to draw up a shortlist of bidders over the next week. If it is unable to sell the business within the 90 day deadline, it will shut the accounts.
渣打已就出售其在阿联酋的中小企业客户账户与当地银行展开谈判,预计下周就能拟定一份入围的竞标人名单。如果来不及在90天期限内出售这块业务,该行将关闭这些账户。
The SME business generated revenues in the tens of millions of dollars in the UAE, a fraction of StanChart’s total revenues from the country, its sixth-biggest market. “We had decided to exit these accounts anyway,” the person close to StanChart said. “The pain was in excess of the gain given the US situation.”
阿联酋是渣打的第六大市场,该国的中小企业业务仅产生几千万美元的营收,与渣打在该国的总营收相比微不足道。“我们本来就已决定要退出这些帐户,”上述知情人士表示,“考虑到美国的这件事,我们的成本已经超过了收益。”