StanChart shares fall 9% after US lawmaker calls for probe

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LONDON (Reuters) -Standard Chartered shares fell nearly 9% on Friday after a U.S. Republican lawmaker wrote to the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, asking for a probe to be launched into the bank, claiming it was involved in sanctions evasion.

Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, requested in a letter shared on the X social media platform and published on her website that a special attorney be appointed to look into Standard Chartered’s alleged failings.

Stefanik said that an unspecified case against Standard Chartered was due to expire next week and urged action before that date.

Standard Chartered said in a statement that the underlying allegations in a long-running civil case were “entirely false” and had been rejected by U.S. courts multiple times.

The claimant had been pursuing the claims since 2012, the bank has previously said.

“We expect the dismissal of this case will continue to be upheld on appeal,” the bank said on Friday, adding it would fully cooperate with any relevant authorities and was committed to fighting financial crime.

The Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bank’s shares, which had been about 1.5% lower earlier on Friday, plunged almost 9% before closing down 7.2%. One trader linked the share move to the letter.

Like other European lenders, Standard Chartered’s stock has risen sharply this year on robust earnings and hit a near 12-year high earlier this week.

Standard Chartered has previously been the subject of U.S. scrutiny. The bank agreed to pay $1.1 billion in 2019 to U.S. and British authorities over transactions which breached sanctions against Iran and other countries.

The bank was also the subject of a U.S. deferred prosecution agreement, which in 2019 was extended for two years.

(Reporting by Iain Withers, Alun John and Samuel Indyk; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Susan Fenton)