Bangladesh, July 16 -- The US Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced an $11.8 million settlement with Interactive Brokers LLC (IBKR), one of the worlds largest electronic trading platforms. The penalty stems from multiple apparent violations of US sanctions laws, which saw the firm processing financial transactions and offering services to individuals and entities in sanctioned regions and sectors over a multi-year period.

The enforcement action is yet another signal from Washington that sanctions compliance remains a core component of the US national security and foreign policy strategy-and that regulators expect even highly automated financial institutions to implement vigilant, up-to-date compliance...