渣打銀行可能遭阿聯酋客戶起訴

Standard Chartered’s anti-Money laundering settlement with New York’s leading financial watchdog is raising hackles with other regulators around the world.

渣打(Standard Chartered)與紐約州主要金融監管機構達成的反洗錢和解協議，正在惹惱世界各地的其他監管機構。

The United Arab Emirates’ central bank on Thursday warned the London-listed lender that it may face litigation from thousands of its customers in the Gulf country, which it is being forced to “exit” under the terms of the settlement.

阿聯酋央行週四警告稱，在倫敦上市的渣打可能面臨這個海灣國家數千客戶的訴訟。根據上述和解協議的條款，渣打將被迫“退出”與這些客戶的合同關係。

The UAE’s warning comes after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority reacted to a ban on StanChart’s ability to clear US dollar payments for some clients in Hong Kong by defending its own “robust” anti-money laundering regime.

阿聯酋發出警告之前，香港金融管理局(HKMA)對於禁止渣打爲香港某些客戶清算美元付款的禁令作出反應，爲香港的“健全”反洗錢制度進行辯護。

The HKMA said it had been monitoring StanChart’s anti-money laundering controls, adding: “Although we have identified some areas for improvement, they are not issues that cause significant supervisory concerns.”

香港金管局表示，它一直在監督渣打的反洗錢管控措施，並補充稱：“雖然我們發現一些有待改善之處，但並不構成重大監管關注。”

The settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services, which included a $300m fine, followed the discovery of a flaw in StanChart’s transaction monitoring system that flouted the terms of a 2012 settlement for violating sanctions with countries including Iran.

渣打與紐約州金融服務管理局（New York Department of Financial Services，簡稱DFS）達成包括3億美元罰款的和解之前，該行的交易監控系統被發現存在一個漏洞，違反了該行在2012年因違反制裁（伊朗等國）規定而達成的和解協議的條款。

The DFS reckons the flaw in the bank’s surveillance systems allowed millions of suspicious payments for Hong Kong and UAE clients to go unreported for years.

DFS估計，該行監控系統中的漏洞，使得香港和阿聯酋客戶在多年期間作出的數以百萬計的可疑支付未能得到報告。

StanChart has been given 90 days by the US regulator to sell or close the accounts of its small business clients in the UAE. The Gulf country’s central bank said 1,400 to 8,000 accounts could be affected.

美國的這家監管機構給渣打90天時間出售或關閉阿聯酋小企業客戶的賬戶。阿聯酋央行表示，可能有1400至8000個賬戶受到影響。

The central bank added that StanChart would be liable to legal action by the account holders “because of the material and moral damage which is falling on them”.

阿聯酋央行補充稱，渣打可能會面對賬戶持有人發起的法律行動，因爲這些客戶遭受了“物質和精神損害”。

StanChart said: “We have noted the announcement made by the UAE central bank. We always work with our regulators to achieve the right outcomes.”

渣打表示：“我們已注意到阿聯酋央行的聲明。我們始終與我們的監管機構合作，以獲得正確的結果。”

Punishment doled out by US regulators to foreign banks has become a regular source of tension with other regulators. French officials were furious about what they saw as a “crazily disproportionate” fine of almost $9bn meted out to BNP Paribas in June for sanctions violations.

美國監管機構對外資銀行進行的處罰，已成爲與海外監管機構關係緊張的常態化來源。6月，法國巴黎銀行(BNP Paribas)因違反制裁規定而在美國被罰近90億美元，法國官員對於他們眼中這一“離譜至極”的處罰極爲震怒。

A person close to StanChart said it was already exiting its small and medium enterprise operation in the UAE as part of a strategic shift to withdraw from “non-strategic businesses” that have become uneconomic because of the cost of doing due diligence.

接近渣打的一名人士表示，作爲戰略轉移的一部分，該行本來就在退出阿聯酋的中小企業業務。該戰略的目的是撤出“非戰略性業務”，因爲開展盡職調查的成本已使此類業務在經濟上不可行。

Much of the UAE’s financial activity is based in Dubai, which acts as a financial hub for companies across the Middle East. HSBC, which paid $1.9bn in fines to US regulators after admitting money laundering and sanctions violations in 2012, has closed down UAE accounts linked to Iranian and Syrian nationals as it moves to limit US regulatory reprisals.

阿聯酋的很大一部分金融活動位於迪拜，對中東各地的企業來說，迪拜扮演着一個金融樞紐的角色。曾在2012年承認違反反洗錢和制裁規定、並向美國監管機構支付19億美元罰款的匯豐(HSBC)，爲了限制美國的監管報復，已在阿聯酋關閉了所有與伊朗和敘利亞國民有關聯的賬戶。

StanChart has started talks with local banks about selling its portfolio of SME clients in the UAE and expects to draw up a shortlist of bidders over the next week. If it is unable to sell the business within the 90 day deadline, it will shut the accounts.

渣打已就出售其在阿聯酋的中小企業客戶賬戶與當地銀行展開談判，預計下週就能擬定一份入圍的競標人名單。如果來不及在90天期限內出售這塊業務，該行將關閉這些賬戶。

The SME business generated revenues in the tens of millions of dollars in the UAE, a fraction of StanChart’s total revenues from the country, its sixth-biggest market. “We had decided to exit these accounts anyway,” the person close to StanChart said. “The pain was in excess of the gain given the US situation.”

阿聯酋是渣打的第六大市場，該國的中小企業業務僅產生幾千萬美元的營收，與渣打在該國的總營收相比微不足道。“我們本來就已決定要退出這些帳戶，”上述知情人士表示，“考慮到美國的這件事，我們的成本已經超過了收益。”