UniCredit Bank Austria OFAC Settlement: $20.3M (2019)

For a number of years, up to and including 2012, Bank Austria processed transactions to or through U.S. financial institutions that involved countries, entities, and/or individuals subject to OFAC sanctions programs. Bank Austria appears to have utilized nontransparent payment practices to process these transactions in a manner that did not reveal the involvement of sanctioned parties or countries to intermediary financial institutions located in the United States, in contravention of UniCredit Group policies.

The specific practices included the use of SWIFT MT202 cover payment messages that did not reveal the involvement of sanctioned parties or jurisdictions, and executing payments related to trade finance agreements that did not identify the involvement of sanctioned parties or countries to or through U.S. financial institutions. Bank Austria also actively manipulated and resubmitted clean versions of six payments that U.S. intermediary financial institutions had rejected due to OFAC concerns.

OFAC determined that Bank Austria did not voluntarily self-disclose the Apparent Violations. Of the 127 apparent violations, 60 constitute a non-egregious case and the remaining 67 constitute an egregious case. The total base penalty amount for the Apparent Violations was $39,622,495. The settlement amount of $20,326,340 reflects OFAC's consideration of the facts and circumstances pursuant to the General Factors Affecting Administrative Action under OFAC's Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines, 31 C.F.R. Part 501, app. A.

Bank Austria'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.

This settlement with OFAC was part of a global settlement among various UniCredit Group entities, OFAC, the U.S. Department of Justice, the New York County District Attorney's Office, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and the Department of Financial Services of the State of New York. Bank Austria'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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