Standard Chartered shares fall 23% amid laundering allegations

Standard Chartered - a key holding for many UK investors, particularly income funds - is accused of enabling Iranian banks and corporations to hide roughly 60,000 transactions worth at least $250bn within the bank, New York state's banking regulator has said. The New York State Department of Financial Services has accused the British bank's subsidiary - Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) - of hiding the transactions in order to gain hundreds of millions of dollars in fees from January 2001 through 2010. In a statement, Standard Chartered said it "strongly rejects the position and portrayal...