Bank of New York Provides for Money Laundering Settlement

Paul Das

21 October 2005

Bank of New York has set aside $14 million to provide for an expected settlement of an investigation by US federal prosecutors in connection with a Russian money-laundering conspiracy. The long-running investigation relates to accounts at the bank that had been controlled by, amongst others, one of its former executives, Lucy Edwards and her husband Peter Berlin. The probe concerns wire transfers of funds from Russian and other Eastern European countries. In August the bank received a settlement proposal from the US authorities. Ms Edwards, a former vice president in the bank's Eastern European division, pleaded guilty in February 2000 to charges that they were part of a conspiracy that moved $7 billion through accounts at the bank. Separately, the bank reported its third quarter results yesterday, which showed a 10 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit to $389 million. The bank said the rise was helped by higher fees.