Metro Bank

"Embattled lender Metro Bank has been hit with a fresh lawsuit by a group of Iranian customers who say their accounts were unfairly suspended without notice or explanation. The group of 17 claimants, who are expected to seek at least £1.5m in damages, include dual British-Iranian citizens, Iranian citizens living in the UK and several UK-based businesses including an engineering firm and a consultancy. Law firm Ronald Fletcher Baker said its clients were blocked from accessing their accounts and cash between May and September 2019 without notice and without explanation. It first contacted Metro about the issue in July and served the bank with legal papers last week." (The Guardian, "Metro Bank hit with fresh lawsuit by Iranian customers," 3/17/2020).  (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/17/metro-bank-hit-with-fresh-lawsuit-by-iranian-customers?utm_source=+%27Virus+At+Iran%27s+Gates%27%3A+How+Tehran+Failed+To+Stop+Outbreak&utm_campaign=eye-on-iran&utm_medium=email)

--

Metro notified US officials of the Cuba offence in November 2017.

It is the latest in a series of problems for the bank which spent much of last year reeling from the impact of a major error in the way it accounted for its property loans." (Evening Standard, "Metro Bank in probe over Iran and Cuba sanctions breaches," 2/4/2020). (https://www.standard.co.uk/business/metro-bank-in-probe-over-iran-and-cuba-sanctions-breaches-a4353346.html)

The review is being handled by a top level team of investigators at law firm DLA Piper, which was hired after the Iranian funds were received by the bank last year.

"METRO Bank is undergoing a major review of its compliance controls after handling money from Cuba and Iran in breach of strict US and EU sanctions.