US probing Deutsche Bank's dealings

After Standard Chartered Bank, government agencies in the US are investigating dealings of Deutsche Bank and many other global banks over accusations of funnelling billions of dollars through their branches here for sanctioned nations like Iran and Sudan, a media report said.

The investigation into Deutsche Bank is the latest in a series of cases against global financial firms since 2009, a report in the 'New York Times' said.

Earlier this week, Global banking giant Standard Chartered agreed to pay USD 340 million to New York's top banking regulator, settling allegations that it hid thousands of transactions worth billions of dollars with the Iranian government.

Under the settlement reached with the Department of Financial Services, Standard Chartered will pay a "civil penalty" of USD 340 million and would have a monitoring system for a term of at least two years.

A spokesman for the German Bank said it had decided in 2007 to "not engage in new business with counter-parties in countries such as Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea and to exit existing business to the extent legally possible".

According to law enforcement officials, the investigation into Indian-origin Anshuman Jain-led Deutsche Bank is still in its very early stages, the daily said.

"So far, there is no suspicion that the bank moved money on behalf of Iranian clients through its American operations after 2008," the officials said in the report.

However, the recent clash between New York's top banking regulator and federal authorities over a similar case against Standard Chartered could complicate the investigations, it said.

Prosecutors worry that foreign banks and regulators would no longer easily cooperate in handing over key transaction data that reveal the parties behind the global movement of tainted money, according to the federal and state prosecutors, it added.

Since 2009, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department and the Manhattan district attorney's office have brought charges against five foreign banks, saying they moved billions of dollars through their American subsidiaries on behalf of Iran, Cuba and North Korea, nations described as sponsors of terrorism and drug cartels, the report said.

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