UniCredit S.p.A. OFAC Settlement: $37.3M (2019)

For a number of years, up to and including 2012, UniCredit S.p.A. processed hundreds of transactions to or through U.S. financial institutions that involved countries, entities, and/or individuals subject to OFAC sanctions. The bank utilized nontransparent payment practices to process these transactions in a manner that did not disclose the involvement of sanctioned parties or countries to intermediary financial institutions in the United States, in apparent violation of various OFAC sanctions programs and in contravention of UniCredit Group policies.

The specific payment practices included: the use of SWIFT Message Type (MT) 202 cover payment messages that did not reference the involvement of sanctioned parties or jurisdictions; executing payments pursuant to trade finance agreements that did not identify the involvement of sanctioned parties or countries subject to the sanctions programs administered by OFAC; and executing commercial transactions with knowledge of interests of countries or entities subject to OFAC sanctions by sending USD payment messages through U.S. financial institutions omitting any reference to such interests. In certain instances, the bank also manipulated and resubmitted clean versions of payments after U.S. intermediary financial institutions had rejected them due to OFAC concerns.

OFAC determined that UniCredit S.p.A. did not voluntarily self-disclose the Apparent Violations and that the Apparent Violations constitute an egregious case. The total base penalty amount for the Apparent Violations was $72,741,368. The settlement amount of $37,316,322 reflects OFAC's consideration of aggravating and mitigating factors pursuant to the General Factors Affecting Administrative Action under OFAC's Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines, 31 C.F.R. Part 501, app. A.

The bank's obligation to pay OFAC the settlement amount was deemed satisfied up to an equal amount by payments in satisfaction of penalties assessed by U.S. federal officials arising out of the same patterns of conduct during the same time periods.

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