The U.S. Justice Department and New York State’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) are increasing the scope of their investigation into the bank because a few transactions allegedly involved U.S. dollars and a former banker who is a U.S. citizen, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
The regulatory investigation involving trades worth $6 billon would be one of the first by the U.S. authorities regarding a potential breach of Western sanctions against Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea, the business daily said.
Citing sources, Reuters reported in July that the DFS has asked the bank for detailed information on possible money-laundering transactions by some clients in Russia that could exceed a total of $6 billion.