LONDON, Aug 15 (AP/UNB) - Shares in Standard Chartered open 4 percent higher in London after the bank settled with a New York regulator who accused it of hiding illegal transactions.
     
Standard Chartered PLC agreed on Tuesday to pay a fine of $340 million to settle allegations by the New York State Department of Financial Services that the bank had illegally evaded U.S. sanctions in its handling of Iranian oil money.
     
Richard Hunter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Securities in London, says the bank "appears to have taken its rap on the knuckles and is preparing to move on."
     
However, Hunter says investors may remain cautious because other U.S. agencies investigating the money-laundering allegations have yet to announce decisions.