Pakistan's Habib Bank told to shut shop in US

Habib Bank repeatedly violated the terms of a 2006 agreement

New York’s banking regulator ordered Habib Bank to pay $225 million and surrender its licence to operate in the state, effectively removing Pakistan’s largest lender from the US financial system.

Managers in Habib’s branch office in Manhattan failed for more than a decade to shore up weak anti-money-laundering controls and sanctions compliance, New York’s Department of Financial Services said in orders issued Thursday. The bank put through thousands of poorly screened transactions, the DFS said, including for people on a “good guy” list at the bank that included an identified terrorist, an international arms dealer and an Iranian oil shipper. 

“DFS will