Investing.com -- One day after agreeing to pay U.S. regulators more than $1.4 billion in fines after admitting to a wide range of sanctions and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, stocks in German bank Commerzbank AG (XETRA:CBKG) moved broadly higher on Friday.
On the Xetra trading platform in Frankfurt, Commerzbank AG gained 0.53 or 4.41% to trade at 12.542. The multinational financial services company is also headquartered in Frankfurt, but has operations throughout the world, including the United States.
The settlement removes a large burden on Germany's second-largest bank, which was accused of moving more than $250 million through the U.S. financial system on behalf of entities in Iran and Sudan. As part of the settlement, Commerzbank admitted to working in concert with a host of Iranian banks while the nation was under economic sanctions from the United States. The bank also admitted that it created a "safe payment solution," for an Iranian shipping company, which allowed the company to conduct transactions through the U.S. financial system.
"Sanctions laws are designed to protect the national security of the United States and promote our foreign policy interests," U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said in a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice. "Today’s resolution demonstrates that there will be consequences when global banks try to profit from the benefits of the U.S. financial system without respecting our laws.”
In addition, the bank admitted loaning money to off-balance sheet entities on behalf of Japanese medical device and camera company Olympus Corp. (TOKYO:7733) in 2005. The actions were reportedly undertaken in an effort to hide millions of dollars in losses from investors and auditors.
“We take these violations very seriously and deeply regret the actions that led to today’s announcements," Commerzbank AG CEO Martin Blessing said on Thursday in a statement. "Today’s settlement concludes a long and arduous process for all involved. Our focus now is on addressing the underlying issues and maintaining the trust of all of our stakeholders – our clients, our shareholders, our regulators and our employees. We have made, and will continue to make, changes to our systems, training and personnel to address the deficiencies identified by U.S. and New York authorities."
Commerzbank agreed to pay $263 million for violations connected with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and an additional $300 million for penalties related to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Additionally, the German bank agreed to settle a $200 million fine by the Federal Reserve System, a $258.6 million fine levied by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and to pay a penalty of $610 million to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS).