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\f0\b\fs26 \cf0 \cb2 BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN \f1\b0\fs24 \
\f0\fs26 \cf0 The British bank accused of laundering hundreds of billions with Iran
has agreed to a $340 million settlement. \f1\fs24 \
\f0\fs26 It\'92s a move The New York Times is calling a \'93big win\'94 for New York\'92s
\
banking regulator, which made the initial accusations against Standard Chartered.
\f1\fs24 \ \
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\f0\fs26 \cf3 But Sky News\'92 Hannah Thomas-Peter suggests}}
\f0\fs26 the settlement was a face-saving move.
\f1\fs24 \ \
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\f0\b\fs26 \cf0 \'93Sky sources have said that the bank came to a pragmatic decision.
\'85 Given the regulator was coming after our license to do business in New York, there
was little choice in the matter. Certainly, if the bank wanted to move to stop the bleeding.\'94
\f1\b0\fs24 \ \
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\f0\fs26 \cf0 By bleeding, she might be referring to the bank\'92s shares, which had taken a
hit amid the controversy. New York\'92s Department of Financial Services said Standard had broken
U.S. sanctions on Iran, and accused the bank of hiding transactions to the tune of $250
billion linked to Iran. Reporting from New York, {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/08/2012814205319929581.html"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 an Al Jazeera correspondent takes}} a similar route, and suggests the settlement
was Standard making the best out of a situation that was bad for PR, and business.
\f1\fs24 \ \
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\f0\b\fs26 \cf0 \'93This is a rather shrewd pragmatic move by the bank. This means its
documents won\'92t be made public, it won\'92t have a public showdown and a potentially long
protracted battle with the top regulator.\'94 \f1\b0\fs24 \
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\f0\fs26 \cf0 But that\'92s the part that {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/08/14/standard-chartered-truth/"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 has Fortune contributor Larry Doyle more}} than a little peeved. He\'92s calling for
the truth through an independent investigation. \f1\fs24 \
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\f0\b\fs26 \cf0 \'93A fine only serves to suffocate the truth. ... When a bank is merely
fined for dealing with a rogue nation such as Iran, that payment is nothing more than
blood money.\'94 \f1\b0\fs24 \
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\f0\fs26 \cf0 But it ain\'92t over til it\'92s over. Four other U.S. bodies, including the
U.S. Treasury and the Fed, are looking into the allegations. And now, on top of the hefty
settlement, Standard is installing a monitor to watch its money laundering controls.}