Westchester County Business Journal 8/27/2012 Issue

Page 1

Biz

WCBJ ®

INSIDE

WESTCHESTER COUNTY

BUSINESS JOURNAL

YOUR only SOURCE FOR regional BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com

August 27, 2012 | VOL. 48, No. 35

Standard Chartered deal seen as ‘wake-up call’

T

BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com

he controversial $340 million settlement between Standard Chartered Bank and the New York State Department of Financial Services should be a “wake-up call” for national and international financial institutions licensed to operate in New York, experts say. Federal regulators and banking veterans reacted with surprise when DFS Supt. Benjamin M. Lawsky announced Aug. 14 that despite ongoing federal investigations, the 10-month-

old department had unilaterally negotiated a settlement with Standard Chartered. The London-based bank, according to the DFS complaint, “programmatically engaged in deceptive and fraudulent misconduct” as it moved at least $250 billion through its New York City branch for Iranian clients that were subject to U.S. economic sanctions. Several financial and legal experts said the settlement could have a far-reaching effect on Hudson Valley institutions and Fairfield County, Conn.-based banks that operate in New York, perhaps causing them to bolster their

compliance departments. Matthew Carey, director of the Center for Financial Market Studies at Iona College in New Rochelle, called the settlement “an unprecedented situation in that it raises a whole new set of regulatory issues” for foreign banks and U.S. banks with branches in New York state. While multinational financial institutions typically have entire divisions devoted to compliance, Carey said the settlement might prompt more companies to create new positions to navigate New York state’s regulatory system. Standard, page 6

MTA to consider appeal in anti-Islamic advertisement ruling BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com

T Her eye’s on Ossining • 11

Ingrid Richards, Ossining’s manager of downtown and economic development.

he Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering an appeal of a decision by the U.S. District Court to allow a series of anti-Islamic advertisements to run across the Hudson Valley, southern Connecticut and New York City. The ads, taken out by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, have sparked controversy from Westchester to San Francisco, with Judge Paul Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruling that under the First Amendment, they must be allowed to run. The group’s leadership includes a seminar instructor for U.S. government agencies. AFDI paid $10,000 for the most recent series of ads, which read “19,250 Deadly Islamic Attacks Since 9/11/01 And Counting. It’s Not Islamophobia, It’s Islamorealism.” The ads are scheduled to be displayed on 75 recycling bins spread across 51 Metro-North stations from Aug. 6 to Sept. 2. “MTA does not decide whether to allow a proposed advertisement based upon its viewpoint and the MTA does not endorse the viewpoint in this or any other paid advertiseMTA, page 6

V H

GOOD THINGS • 24

BABY STEPS • 10


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.