Societe Generale to pay $1.3bn fine for US sanctions violations

French bank Societe Generale ​has agreed to pay US authorities $1.3bn (£1bn) to resolve allegations it violated US sanctions on Cuba, Iran and other countries.

US authorities said the bank processed billions of dollars in illegal transactions to parties in countries under US sanction, including Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Libya.

Societe Generale ​​said the penalties would not impact on the bank's results for 2018 and would be paid from a pot set aside for disputes.

In a separate agreement the bank will also pay a penalty of $95m relating to its anti-money-laundering (AML) compliance programme.

The bank's chief executive, Frederic Oudea, said: “We acknowledge and regret the shortcomings that were identified in these settlements, and have cooperated with the U.S. Authorities to resolve these matters.

“Societe Generale has already taken a number of significant steps in recent years and dedicated substantial resources to enhance its sanctions and AML compliance programmes.”

The fines were issued by the Federal Reserve, U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the New York Department of Financial Services.