Fine of $298 million at Barclays Bank

Barclays Bank agreed to pay 298 million dollars after an arrangement with U.S. authorities on charges of forgery and concealment of transactions with banks in countries which have imposed sanctions (penalties) such as Cuba, Iran and Libya.

According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. officials said that the British bank falsified data as they concealed transactions with the credit institutions in these countries.

As mentioned in the posted article, the fine is the latest attempt to apply pressure on international financial institutions in order to exclude Iran from the international financial system. Note that in May, the ABN Amro – which now belongs to the Royal Bank of Scotland – has agreed to pay $500 million as was accused of helping countries like Iran to avoid American sanctions.