By Zacks Equity Research, Zacks.com
Barclays PLC BCS agreed to shell out nearly $2.5 million to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in order to settle claims related to the violation of U.S. sanctions by processing transactions for government-backed entities in Zimbabwe.
According to the Treasury, Barclays processed 159 transactions totaling around $3.4 million from July 2008 to September 2013 to or through financial institutions in the U.S., including the company’s New York branch, for corporate customers of Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe, which were majority-owned by people that are on U.S. sanctions lists.
Also, as per OFAC, the apparent sanctions breaches, which represent a non-egregious case, were not voluntarily self disclosed by Barclays. The total base penalty amount for the apparent violations was $5 million.
While Barclays failed to implement sufficient controls to prevent the apparent violations from occurring despite several warning signs that its conduct could lead to a violation of U.S. sanctions laws, Barclays took remedial action in response to the apparent violations and also substantially cooperated with OFAC’s investigation by submitting detailed and organized information. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s consideration of the following facts.
“This enforcement action highlights the importance for institutions with operations in countries with a significant presence of persons (individuals and entities) on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List to take appropriate measures to ensure compliance with U.S. economic sanctions laws when processing transactions on behalf of their customers to, through, or within the U.S.,” Treasury said.
The settlement will encourage Barclays to implement a strong sanctions compliance program across its international operations.
