EFG International agreed to pay about $3.7m to settle allegations the Swiss private bank violated US sanctions by holding and investing securities on behalf of blacklisted individuals, the US Treasury Department said.

Between 2014 and 2018, Zurich-based EFG allegedly processed 868 securities transactions for customers in Cuba and for a Chinese national blacklisted for foreign narcotics trafficking, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said on 14 March. EFG, which has around 40 global subsidiaries, also processed five dividend payments in 2023 for another person blocked under sanctions imposed over Russia’s anti-democratic activities abroad. The US has a comprehensive economic embargo on Cuba.