Following the announcement yesterday that global powerhouse law firms Slaughter and May and Sullivan & Cromwell are advising the bank over allegations that it illegally gained $250 billion in transactions with Tehran, it has emerged that the Standard’s legal team is considering a counterclaim for reputational damage.
According to the Financial Times, the bank’s legal advisers have argued that there is a case against the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). Standard Chartered denies the extent of the wrongdoing, claiming that no more than $14m of its Iranian transactions failed to comply with US sanctions.

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Peter Sands, Standard Chartered’s chief executive told the FT that ‘our reputation has been damaged’, pointing to a significant drop in the bank’s share price since the allegations were made. Mr Sands declined to comment on the possibility of the bank taking legal action.
He maintained that the DFS report included ‘a whole range of inaccuracies, odd interpretations, things we simply don’t understand’. He criticised the approach of the New York authorities, comparing it to the position of other US regulators, who are said to be ‘furious’ that the DFS has made allegations independent to pending investigations by other agencies.
Standard Chartered is scheduled to meet with the DFS in New York next week.