(London) Iran used British bank Lloyds and the UK subsidiary of Spain’s Santander to move funds and evade US sanctions, claims Financial Times in its Monday edition.
The two banks provided accounts to shell companies based in the United Kingdom, but actually belonging to a petrochemical company controlled by Tehran and targeted by American sanctions since 2018, according to the Financial Times on the basis of documents consulted by the financial daily.
This company is part of a “network that the United States accuses of raising millions of dollars for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and working for Russian intelligence agencies that raise money for militias affiliated with Iran,” continues the FT.
A Santander UK spokesperson contacted by AFP assured that the bank “has not committed any violation of American sanctions based on our investigation”.
“We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions-related requests and will continue to proactively engage with the UK and US authorities,” she adds.
A spokesperson for Lloyds, also contacted by AFP, also declared that the activities of the British bank are “conducted in such a way as to comply with the law on sanctions”.
However, he says he cannot comment on individual clients or, “due to legal restrictions, on information relating to suspicious activities transmitted to the authorities”.
A source close to Lloyds assures that the client to whom the Financial Times is not subject to British or American sanctions.
The British Foreign Office, for its part, simply responded to AFP’s requests for comment by responding that “the United Kingdom has designated more than 400 Iranian individuals or entities in relation to Iran’s destabilizing regional activities.” , human rights abuses and nuclear proliferation”, while refusing to comment on “possible future sanctions”.