Pakistani bank in NY takes steps to allay US concerns after being hit by curbs

NEW YORK – The General Manager of Pakistan’s Habib Bank Ltd., New York branch, said Friday that steps have been taken to address the concerns of U.S. authorities after being hit by an enforcement order that barred the bank from conductingany dollar-clearing transactions or accepting any new accountsfor U.S. dollar clearing as of Dec. 11.
“We have already takenseveral steps to address and meet those concerns and we intend to make sureeverything gets done in a way that is acceptable to all the stakeholders,including the regulators,” General Manager Manochere Alamgir said when asked for his comments. “We take ourregulatory obligations very seriously,” Alamgir added.In an orderThursday, New York’s Department of Financial Services forbade the bank fromtaking on new correspondent accounts in the U.S. without written approval. Itcalled for Habib Bank to hire an outside monitor to oversee its anti-moneylaundering controls and its dollar clearing transactions, with an eye towardensuring that none of those transactions violated U.S. sanctions imposedthrough the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
A recent exam found HBL’s risk management had broken down, as well as its compliance with laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act and regulations issued by the US Treasury Department, according to the order.