The new agreements have been extended until the end of December this year.

London-based banking group Standard Chartered, which operates mainly in regions such as Asia and Africa, has agreed to a further extension of its US deferred prosecution agreements - arising from sanctions violations - until the end of December 2018.

The group entered into the DPAs with the US Department of Justice and the New York County District Attorney’s Office in December 2012, accepting that it had broken laws by processing payments for sanctions targets in countries including Iran, Burma, Sudan and Libya.

The bank avoided prosecution in exchange for a cash settlement of $327 million and an agreement with the US authorities to improve its sanctions compliance.

“The agreement acknowledges that the group has taken a number of steps and made significant progress toward compliance with the requirements of the DPA and enhancing its sanctions compliance program, but that the program has not yet reached the standard required by the DPA,” the bank said. “The agreement also indicates that the group continues to co-operate with an ongoing US sanctions-related investigation, but that additional time is needed to complete the investigation.”

The 2014 extension called for the appointment of an independent compliance monitor for a three-year term; the monitor was engaged on July 28, 2015, and the parties have also agreed to extend the term of the monitoring to December 31, 2018.

Standard Chartered will provide a further update in the next few months.