US moves to cut off a Swiss bank over alleged Iran and Russia money flows

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is moving to sever a small Swiss bank from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for Iranian and Russian actors, as U.S. and Iranian officials hold indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations.

Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a federal regulation Thursday that, if finalized, would prohibit U.S. institutions from doing business with MBaer Merchant Bank AG, which has no relation to the larger Swiss bank Julius Baer.

The bank is accused of funneling over $100 million through the U.S. financial system on behalf of criminals out of Iran and Russia.

Founded in 2018, MBaer is both small and new as a bank. A banking profile in 2020 showed MBaer had roughly $245 million in assets, making it the 200th largest bank in Switzerland. But because it is small, the Treasury Department’s announcement is notable because it effectively implies that a significant amount of the bank’s overall business is tied to illicit money flows.

A Treasury readout of the new regulation states that MBaer “is a critical access node to the U.S. dollar for a wide variety of illicit actors, putting U.S. national security at risk and undermining the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”

Treasury alleges that since its inception, MBaer has enabled money laundering and facilitated corruption and terrorist financing, including for Russian criminals and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said banks "should be on notice that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system using the full force of our authorities.”

A spokesperson for the bank was not immediately available for comment.

The Trump administration has imposed several tranches of sanctions on people and companies accused of enabling Iran’s theocratic government, ballistic missile program, drone production and illicit oil sales as the U.S. presses Tehran to make a deal.

The latest round of talks between U.S. officials, including envoy Steve Witkoff, and Iranian negotiators via mediator Oman are taking place Thursday in Geneva.

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Associated Press reporters Ken Sweet in New York and Jamey Keaton in Geneva contributed to this report.