UK sees bias in US towards its banks

Standard Chartered won some help from UK's central bank governor on Wednesday in its fightback against the New York banking regulator's allegations on 'illegal' transactions with Iran.

Standard Chartered won some help from UK's central bank governor on Wednesday in its fightback against the New York banking regulator's allegations on 'illegal' transactions with Iran.

HT Image

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King drew unfavourable comparisons between this case and other US action against British banks, such as the interest rate-manipulating investigation into Barclays.

Officials at the US Treasury Department and Federal Reserve are reportedly angry with the New York authorities for going it alone in the StanChart case.

"I think all the UK authorities would ask is that the various regulatory bodies that are investigating the particular case try to work together and refrain from making too many public statements until the investigation is completed," King said.

Standard Chartered shares were up 7.4% at 1100 GMT, boosted by the apparent disunity among US regulators.