UBS to pay $1.7m for violations to US sanctions
UBS has reached a settlement with the US Treasury to pay $1.7m for violations to US sanctions. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that UBS had processed 222 transactions from 2008 to 2013 involving securities held in the US for a customer in Zurich, despite the fact that the individual was designated by OFAC in 2001 for committing, threatening to commit or supporting terrorism.  Though the individual was not named, it is believed that Switzerland, UK, the European Union and the United National had also imposed sanctions against the person.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury on Thursday said it had reached an agreement with UBS for the Swiss bank to pay a $1.7 million (1.1 million pounds) settlement for "apparent violations" to U.S. sanctions. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement that UBS processed 222 transactions from 2008 to 2013 involving securities held in the United States for a customer in Zurich, even though the individual was designated by OFAC in 2001 for committing, threatening to commit, or supporting terrorism. Specifically, UBS processed purchases and sales of U.S. securities and other investment activities on behalf of the individual, OFAC said. OFAC did not name the individual in its statement, but said that Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Nations had also imposed sanctions against the person. "UBS acted with reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions requirements by failing to implement adequate controls to prevent the apparent violations from occurring despite receiving numerous warning signs that its conduct could lead to violations of U.S. sanctions laws," the statement said. A UBS spokesman said OFAC agreed that the bank's conduct in this case "was not egregious." "We are pleased to have resolved this matter," said UBS spokesman Gregg Rosenberg, based in New York. "We discovered and voluntarily brought the relevant transactions to OFAC's attention." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Jason Lange; Editing by Sandra Maler and Alan Crosby)