Economics
Credit Agricole to Pay $787 Million in Iran Sanctions Accord
- French bank must hire monitor to oversee internal controls
- Subsidiary used secret code for clients in illicit exchanges
Logos sit on display outside a Credit Agricole SA bank branch in Toulouse, France.
Photographer: Balint Porneczi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Credit Agricole SA agreed to pay $787 million to U.S. regulators and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations the French bank violated sanctions aimed at Iran and Sudan.
From 2003 to 2008, the bank relied on several schemes to process more than $32 billion in dollar payments on behalf of Sudanese, Iranian, Burmese and Cuban entities, including directing employees to omit identifying information, officials said. A subsidiary employed an internal code, using phrases such as “one of our clients” or “our good customer” to describe parties involved in such transactions.