US investigating RBS over Iran sanctions

Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Britain’s biggest taxpayer-owned lender, is being investigated by the Federal Reserve and Justice Department for potentially violating sanctions against Iran.

The investigation was triggered after the bank disclosed information to the US authorities following a review of the business chief executive Stephen Hester started after he joined the Edinburgh-based bank in 2008, according to sources, who asked not to be identified because the probe isn’t public.

Ulster Bank owner, RBS opened “discussions with UK and US authorities to discuss its historical compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including US economic sanctions,” the bank said in a filing earlier in August that didn’t mention the regulators or Iran. “Although the group cannot currently determine when the review of its operations will be completed or what the outcome of its discussions with UK and US authorities will be, the investigation costs, remediation required or liability incurred could have a material adverse effect.”