Instead of trying to win legal arguments in a long drawn out process, the bank has taken the highly pragmatic decision to cut its losses, pay £217m, 2,27 miljarder SEK. Då blir man av med frågan

Shares in Standard Chartered rose 6.6pc in Hong Kong overnight as Asian investors gave a thumbs up to the bank's quick settlement of Iranian money laundering allegations brought by New York State's Department of Financial Services.

The lender did not hang around to argue the toss about the regulator's emotive language or claims that $250bn of transactions were at stake rather than $14m as the bank had previously claimed.

Instead of trying to win legal arguments in a long drawn out process, the bank has taken the highly pragmatic decision to cut its losses, pay £217m, 2,27 miljarder SEK, and the put the whole thing down to experience while retaining its New York banking licence.

Benjamin Lawsky , the New York State regulator, gets his scalp to help with his political career, while Standard Chartered gets to move on reputation largely intact.

That's the modern business of banking.

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