Bundesbank concerned by U.S. penalties for European banks
BERLIN, July 13 (Reuters) - The Bundesbank is concerned by penalties European banks are paying the United States to settle investigations into sanctions violations involving Sudan, Iran and Cuba, Spiegel magazine reported, quoting an official at the German central bank.
"The United States' penalising of European banks is a considerable strain for those financial institutions," Bundesbank's banking supervision chief Andreas Dombret told Spiegel. "We are watching the situation very closely."
A New York court fined French bank BNP Paribas $9 billion last month for doing business in Sudan, Iran and Cuba.
Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank are also under investigation by U.S. authorities over trade with Iran. Commerzbank faces a fine for $600-800 million, sources have told Reuters.
Deutsche Bank could face a penalty of 600 million euros ($818.4 million), Spiegel said, without citing sources.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Sunday and pointed to a statement in its 2013 annual report, which said that it was co-operating with investigators. ($1 = 0.7331 Euros) (Reporting by Alexandra Hudson in Berlin and Harro ten Wolden in Frankfurt; Editing by David Goodman)
