June 13, 2012 –
$619M settlement reached between ING Bank N.V. and U.S Treasury over alleged violations of U.S. sanctions

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a $619 million settlement with ING Bank N.V. (“ING Bank”) to settle potential liability for apparent violations of U.S. sanctions (the “Settlement”).

The Settlement is the largest OFAC settlement of any kind to date.

The Settlement resolves OFAC’s investigation into ING Bank’s alleged intentional manipulation and deletion of information about U.S.-sanctioned parties in more than 20,000 financial and trade transactions routed through third-party banks located in the United States between 2002 and 2007, primarily in apparent violation of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515, but also of the Iranian Transactions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560; the Burmese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 537; the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 538; and the now-repealed version of the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 550, which was in effect until 2004.

ING Bank’s settlement with OFAC is concurrent with settlements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and the New York County District Attorney’s Office.

The Settlement is the most recent in a series of enforcement actions reinforcing the potential liabilities which financial institutions are faced with in complying with OFAC sanctions programs.

Furthermore, the Settlement evidences OFAC’s aggressive position in the enforcement of its sanctions.

Read a copy of the Settlement Agreement.