ABN Amro to pay US govt USD 500 mn for settling charges

According to the US Justice Department, ABN Amro has owned up to its conduct and agreed to forfeit USD 500 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. As per court documents from around 1995 and continuing through December 2005, certain offices, branches, affiliates and subsidiaries of ABN Amro had either removed or altered payment documents so they did not include references to countries under sanction by the American government.

"ABN Amro facilitated the movement of illegal money through the US financial system by stripping information from transactions and turning a blind eye to its compliance obligations," Assistant Attorney General Breuer said.

"It is essential that financial institutions, both large and small, properly monitor the origin of funds flowing into our financial system. When financial institutions fail to do so, or, even worse, manipulate information in order to profit from prohibited transactions, they will be held accountable," Breuer added.

The violations pertain to the bank conspiring to facilitate illegal US dollar transactions on behalf of financial institutions and customers from Iran, Libya, Sudan, Cuba and other countries, the statement from the Justice Department added. The bank was also charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. UK's Royal Bank of Scotland had acquired ABN Amro Bank in 2007.