RBS handed 100m fine by US regulators

Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) financial issues have continued, as the bank has been ordered by US regulators to pay a huge fine after it violated sanctions against a number of countries.

RBS was told that it must pay $100 million (£61 million) as a result of sanctions against nations including Iran, Sudan, Burma and Cuba.

An investigation by the US Treasury found that issues arose between 2005 and 2009 and RBS itself has been examining its records on historical US dollar payment processes and controls.

RBS said it "acknowledges and deeply regrets these failings" in a statement, but the bank will still have to pay the hefty fine to regulators in the US.

The fine comes only a day after the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK ordered Lloyds Banking Group to pay a record £28 million fine after an investigation found it had pressured staff members into selling products such as income protection plans to consumers.

RBS admits violating sanctions

RBS accepted that its bank procedures had removed location information on payments that were made made to US financial institutions from countries such as Iran and Cuba, violating sanctions.

"We will continue to take aggressive action against those who would flout our law," said under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David S Cohen.

The settlement was announced after a series of talks that were held between RBS, the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and New York State Department of Financial Services.

Responding to the findings of the investigation, RBS stated that it has initiated compulsory compliance training for all of its 120,300 employees, while it has also added to this department's workforce by 730 employees since 2011, which brings the total worldwide to 1,700.

The share price of RBS is down this morning (December 12th) on the back of the news of the huge fine breaking. By 09:09 GMT, its stocks were 1.16 per cent lower compared to the start of the day.

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