The monetary penalty and disciplinary action against individual bank employees follow a year-long probe that uncovered that BTMU employees pressured its outside consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) into the watering down a report that the bank submitted to DFS.
The report related to the extent of BTMU’s illicit conduct on behalf of US-sanctioned countries and entities, including Iran, Sudan, and Myanmar.
NYDFS superintendent Benjamin Lawsky said: "BTMU employees pressured PwC into watering down a supposedly objective report on the Bank’s dealings with Iran and other sanctioned countries, thereby misleading regulators.
"It is clear that we – as a regulatory community – must work aggressively to reform the cozy relationship between banks and consultants, which far too often has resulted in shoddy work that sweeps wrongdoing under the rug.
"We continue to believe that fines – while often necessary – are not sufficient to deter misconduct on Wall Street.
"We must also work to impose individual accountability, where appropriate, and clearly proven, on specific bank employees that engaged in wrongdoing."
According to NYDFS, PwC improperly altered an historical transaction review (HTR) report submitted to regulators on wire transfers bank performed by BMTU on behalf of sanctioned countries and entities.
The wire messages of information are expected to have triggered sanctions compliance alerts.
The penalty comes on top of the $250m that BMTU paid in June 2013 under a previous agreement over inappropriate operational processing of US dollar clearing transactions with sanctioned countries between 2002 and 2007.
Meanwhile BTMU said it is "committed to conducting business with the highest levels of integrity and regulatory compliance, and to continually improving its policies and procedures."
The bank had installed an independent consultant (IC) under the June 2013 agreement to conduct a review of its sanctions compliance programs, policies and procedures.
The IC’s engagement is scheduled to conclude in March 2015, and can be extended for a period of up to 18 months, if required by NYDFS.
Image: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi will pay an additional $315m for misleading regulators over transactions involving countries subject to US sanctions. Photo: Katamakura.
