Regulators suspend Standard Chartered Bank's dollar exchange in New York for some clients

New York regulators have reached agreement for Standard Chartered Bank to pay a $300 million penalty and suspend dollar exchanges through its New York branch for high-risk retail business clients at its SCB Hong Kong subsidiary.

The Department of Financial Services says the order signed Tuesday follows the bank's failure to fix compliance problems against money laundering as required under a two-year-old settlement.

Regulators say the independent monitor established under that settlement found the bank failed to detect many potentially high-risk transactions for further review, with a significant number also originating from branches in the United Arab Emirates.

Standard Chartered says it's continuing to fix its control issues and will work with the small proportion of clients affected in Hong Kong and the UAE to minimize disruption.