George Osborne calls Tim Geitner to demand "fair treatment" of Standard Chartered

The Chancellor told Tim Geitner he would not impede any investigation but that he had been “very concerned about the way” in which New York’s Benjamin Lawsky had sprung his explosive order on Monday.

The US Treasury department has responded with a letter conceding that the investigation by its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) into Standard Chartered would be both co-ordinated and quiet going forward.

In the letter dated August 8, the US Treasury promised Mr Osborne: “We will continue to coordinate with other federal and state agencies, including DFS [Mr Lawsky’s New York State Department of Financial Services], in our investigation of the bank and will have no public comment on that investigation until its conclusion.”

A Treasury source said: “The Chancellor was adamant that rules should not be broken but he was very concerned about the way this [order] came out.”

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Mr Lawsky remained unapologetic for the furore. In a statement he said: “This is a case about Iran, money laundering and national security. We will continue to work closely with our law-enforcement partners, both federal and state, in this effort. No bank, big or small, foreign or domestic, is above the law.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9465367/George-Osborne-calls-Tim-Geitner-to-demand-fair-treatment-of-Standard-Chartered.html