British banking giant Standard Chartered is reportedly planning to divest or exit part of its business in the UAE.
The bank is looking to either wind down or exit some of its small and medium enterprises (SME) business in the country, media reports suggest.
However, the bank may retain a limited number of larger SME accounts in the UAE which provided higher revenues and low risk of violating money laundering rules, sources familiar with development told Reuters.
According to the publication, these accounts may have to go through a re-qualification process, which could mean requiring the holders to submit additional documents.
Last week, Standard Chartered agreed to pay as much as $300 million to New York’s banking regulator to settle allegations that it failed to properly check possible money laundering originating from Hong Kong and the UAE.
According to the UAE central bank, up to 8,000 clients are possibly affected by the US settlement.
Standard Chartered would be liable to legal action by account owners because of "material and moral damage" to them, the central bank warned.