ABN Amro laundering case settled with $500m US payment

The UK's Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to pay $500m (£336m) to end a money laundering case involving ABN Amro - the lender it bought in 2007.

The bank will pay the money to the US government. In exchange, charges against ABN Amro will be dropped.

According to the US justice department, the bank helped governments and individuals under US sanctions bring money into the country.

RBS bought the Netherlands-based ABN just before the banking crisis erupted.

The acquisition proved to be disastrous for RBS, with ABN's exposure to mortgage-backed securities resulting in heavy losses.

A partial de-merger of the banks has since taken place.

US officials said ABN had helped banks and individuals from countries including Iran and Libya channel money through the US banking system over a 10-year period.

The charges will be formally dropped in 12 months, assuming the bank continues to cooperate.