The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said it had fined Luxembourg-based Clearstream Banking SA nearly $152 million for allegedly violating U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, and the department took the unusual step of recommending measures, such as intensifying scrutiny of high-risk customers, to mitigate sanctions risk. Clearstream agreed to settle charges that it used its omnibus account with an unnamed New York bank as a conduit to hold securities on behalf of the Central Bank of Iran, or CBI. Clearstream is a unit of German securities exchange Deutsche Boerse that provides of post-trading services such as settlement and safekeeping of securities. It was accused of causing "significant harm" to the U.S. sanctions program because billions of dollars in securities beneficially owned by CBI were held through the omnibus account. The penalty demonstrates that "omnibus accounts — as well as the intermediated nature of the securities custody industry itself — can serve to obscure
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