(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Shares of Standard Chartered have tumbled in London and Hong Kong Tuesday despite the bank denying allegations that it illegally "schemed" with Iran to launder money.
Its shares fell in London 10 percent and earlier in Hong Kong they fell by as much as 7.5 percent.
The New York State Department of Financial Services said the UK-based bank laundered as much as 250 billion dollars (161 billion pounds) over nearly a decade.
It said the bank hid transactions for "Iranian financial institutions" that were subject to US economic sanctions.
The regulator said that Standard Chartered had hidden 60,000 such secret transactions.
However, the bank denied the allegations saying that it "strongly rejects the position or portrayal of facts as set out in the order" issued by the regulator.
The regulator also said that it would hold a formal hearing over the "assessment of monetary penalties".
The bank has also been threatened with having its US banking licence revoked.
However, the bank said the order issued by the US regulator did not present "a full and accurate picture of the facts".
It said that it had conducted a review of its transactions, primarily those relating to Iran for the period between 2001 to 2007 and had given regular updates to the US authorities on the results of the investigation.
"As we have disclosed to the authorities, well over 99.9 percent of the transactions relating to Iran complied with U-turn regulations," the bank said.
Standard Chartered is headquartered in London and its chief executive and chairman are based in the UK.
Its roots are in Asia. The Chartered Bank was founded by Royal Charter and opened in Bombay, Calcutta and Shanghai in 1858.
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