US state and federal authorities have begun settlement negotiations with Germany’s Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG over their dealings with countries blacklisted by the US, a source with direct knowledge of the regulatory investigations said.
The settlement talks have just begun and the timing of the deal is unclear at this time, the person told reporters.
Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank declined to comment.
Commerzbank, accused by US authorities of transferring money through its US operations on behalf of companies in Iran and Sudan, could pay at least US$500 million in penalties, the New York Times reported.
The No. 2 German lender would likely face a so-called deferred prosecution agreement that would suspend criminal charges in exchange for the financial penalty and other concessions, the report said.
A potential deal with Commerzbank, which is expected to pave the way for a separate settlement with Deutsche Bank, would pale in comparison to the deal with France’s BNP Paribas SA , the paper said.
Last week, the French bank pleaded guilty to two criminal charges and agreed to pay almost US$9 billion to resolve accusations that it violated US sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran, a severe punishment aimed at sending a clear message to other financial institutions around the world.
Commerzbank set aside 934 million euros (US$1.27 billion) at the end of last year as provision for litigation threats, including a possible US probe into whether the bank breached sanctions.
Reuters reported last week that Deutsche Bank, Banamex USA — the US arm of Citigroup Inc’s Mexican banking group Banamex SA — and two major French banks — Credit Agricole and Societe Generale SA — are among those being investigated for possible money-laundering or sanctions violations.
However, talks with the two French banks were not on the front burner, the source told reporters on Monday.
The authorities conducting the investigations — the US Department of Justice, New York State’s banking regulator and the Manhattan district attorney’s office — could not be reached immediately for comment.
Numerous other financial institutions, including Standard Chartered PLC, Lloyds Banking Group PLC and Credit Suisse Group AG have previously settled with US authorities over allegations that they violated sanctions.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day