"Bad Guys" Had Their Accounts Closed: Standard Chartered Responds to Article on Sanctions Evasion

Standard Chartered has closed accounts that were used in attempts to circumvent Western sanctions against Russia, said the bank's CEO, Bill Winters.

He was commenting on a Financial Times report stating that A7, a Russian-backed fintech company, was able to funnel approximately $6.9 billion through global banks using forged documents and money-laundering schemes, despite sanctions. The newspaper named Standard Chartered as one of the banks used by A7.

Winters acknowledged that money from “bad guys” had passed through the bank’s accounts, but emphasized that Standard Chartered’s internal systems had detected an attempt to circumvent sanctions, according to Bloomberg.

“Of course, we were aware of this network. We identified its nodes, closed the accounts, and filed reports on suspicious activity, which undoubtedly helped investigators understand how this highly sophisticated Russian money-laundering network operates,” said the head of Standard Chartered at the annual conference for financial industry executives organized by Bank of America.

According to Winters, none of the payments from the Russian payment system A7 that were received in Standard Chartered accounts were linked to sanctioned entities—the funds came from banks in China and other countries. “We have state-of-the-art systems. It’s hard to catch money laundering on the first try, but we do it,” he added.

Standard Chartered’s stock has risen by about 25% since the start of the year, and the bank’s market capitalization is approaching 50 billion pounds ($66.7 billion). Nevertheless, analysts at Shore Capital maintained their “sell” rating following the Financial Times report. “This story serves as a reminder of the additional risks inherent in Standard Chartered’s business model. The group’s strategy is built on serving cross-border trade and capital flows in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—regions where sanctions, compliance, and financial crime risks are higher than those faced by banks focused on domestic markets,” the analysts’ note states.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor