渣打强烈否认伊朗交易指控

Standard Chartered hit back hard yesterday against US regulatory attempts to cast it as a “rogue institution for allegedly breaching sanctions on Iran, describing any transgressions as “small clerical errors.

渣打集团(Standard Chartered)昨日强烈回击美国监管机构称其涉嫌违反对伊朗的制裁、将其形容为“流氓机构的做法，指出任何违反行为只是“小小的办事员差错。

But the British bank’s “strong rejection [of] the portrayal of facts on Monday by New York state’s Department of Financial Services failed to convince investors.

但这家英国银行本周一对纽约州金融服务局(New York state’s Department of Financial Services)事实陈述的强烈驳斥，没能让投资者信服。

Shares in StanChart slumped more than 16 per cent yesterday to ￡12.28, their steepest one-day decline in decades. Under the direction of Peter Sands, chief executive, StanChart had emerged from the financial crisis relatively unscathed.

昨日，渣打的股价跌至12.28英镑，跌幅超过16%，为数十年来最高单日跌幅。在首席执行官冼博德(Peter Sands)的领导下，渣打此前相对无损地度过金融危机。

“This has been incredibly damaging, analysts at Charles Stanley wrote in a note to clients. “It is ruining all the good work that [has been] done in recent years. The bank had last week reported its tenth consecutive period of record first-half profits.

查尔斯·史丹利(Charles Stanley)的分析师在写给客户的一份备忘录中写道：“这带来了很大的破坏，将毁坏渣打近年取得的良好业绩。上周该银行刚刚报告连续第10年实现上半年创纪录盈利。

StanChart rejected the regulator’s assertion that the bank had “schemed with the government of Iran to process “60,000 secret transactions, involving at least $250bn, in breach of sanctions. In a statement the bank said “99.9 per cent of the alleged transactions complied with regulations. One senior insider said any breaches were only “small clerical errors, not the wilful transgression of rules portrayed by the DFS.

渣打否认监管机构的断言，即该行“与伊朗政府勾结，处理了“6万笔秘密交易，至少涉及2500亿美元，违反了对伊朗的制裁。在一份声明中，渣打银行表示“99.9%被指违规的交易都符合规定。一位高级内幕人士称，任何违反行为都只是小小的办事员差错“，而不是纽约州金融服务局所称的蓄意违反规则。

“If Standard Chartered was permanently hurt by these accusations that would be very wrong, Sir John Peace, the bank’s chairman, told the Financial Times. “We intend to contest [them].

渣打银行主席贝思爵士(Sir John Peace)告诉英国《金融时报》：“如果这些指控导致渣打遭受永久性的损伤，那将是非常严重的错误。我们将提出抗辩。

StanChart is headquartered in the UK but focuses on emerging markets, generating 90 per cent of profits in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. A large proportion of that business is transacted in US dollars routed through New York. Analysts and bank insiders said that if the DFS pursued threats to have StanChart’s US banking licence withdrawn, it would be extremely disruptive to the group’s operations.

渣打总部位于英国，但业务重点在新兴市场，其90%的盈利来源于非洲、亚洲以及中东。而这些业务中很大一部分是通过纽约的美元交易。分析师和银行内部人士表示，如果纽约金融服务局兑现有关撤销渣打美国银行业执照的威胁，那将对渣打的运营带来严重破坏。

Sir John cut short his Florida holiday last night, flying to New York for talks with the bank’s lawyers ahead of a hearing with the DFS in a week’s time, on August 15. Behind the scenes, StanChart’s top executives were busy lobbying the UK government in an effort to counter what is increasingly looking to Britain’s bankers like an assault on the City of London by US authorities.

贝思昨晚缩短了其在弗罗里达州的度假日程，飞往纽约与该行的律师协商，一周后，即8月15日，纽约州金融服务局将举行听证会。而在幕后，渣打的高管们正忙着游说英国政府反击在英国银行家们看来美国当局对伦敦金融城越来越明显的攻击。

“This is an attack, said one senior City figure. “If we don’t stand up to it, it could be catastrophic for London’s financial standing. There has to be some stage where Number 10 or the Treasury says something in defence of the banks. A second said: “Political intervention may be needed over this.

伦敦金融城的一位重要人物指出：“这是一场攻击。如果我们不站起来反对的话，就可能对伦敦的金融地位带来灾难性的影响。唐宁街十号以及英国财政部应该站出来为英国的银行辩护。另一位人士则表示：“在这个问题上，或许需要政治干预。

A selection of British bankers, politicians and regulators yesterday accused Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York state’s DFS, of “freelancing – going it alone in escalating an investigation into StanChart that had also involved several other agencies.

一些英国银行家、政界人士和监管者昨日指责纽约州金融服务局负责人本杰明·劳斯基(Benjamin Lawsky)“肆意妄为，独自将对渣打的调查升级，此前该调查牵涉其他一些机构。

One StanChart executive described the colourful DFS report – packed with allegations of “deception, “fraud and a “staggering cover-up – as “like a John Grisham novel.

渣打的一位高管称，纽约州金融服务局这份“丰富多彩的报告就像是“约翰·格里森姆(John Grisham)的一部小说，充斥着有关“障眼法、“欺诈、“令人惊愕的掩盖的指控。