MUFJ fined US$250 million for breaking financial sanctions

New York State claims bank did business with Iran, Sudan and Myanmar.

The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi-UFJ, Japan’s largest bank, was fined for moving billions of dollars through its New York branch between 2002 and 2007 for state and private entities in Iran, Sudan and Myanmar, including entities on the US Treasury's blacklist.

To hide them, bank employees systematically removed information from wire transfer messages that could have identified the parties involved, claimed New York’s Department of Financial Services. MUFJ is said to have handled some 28,000 illegal transactions worth US$100 billion in violation of the law, said the DFS.

The bank agreed to the fine and to boost its compliance procedures and controls to prevent future violations. It said it had identified the violations itself in 2007, cooperated with the authorities, and voluntarily and promptly ceased the practices.