Benjamin Lawsky: The Man Who
Picked a Fight With Wall Street
BY ANNA MERLAN
Project Gazelle was a banker's dream. It was quiet, discreet, and made
staggering piles of money catering to clients no one else would touch.
The fact that it was also illegal didn't seem to matter much. Bankers at
Standard Chartered felt confident no one would notice what they were
doing. And even if somebody did, history said the punishment would be a
delicate slap on the wrist.
The bank was a stodgy old colonial holdover with a massive headquarters
in London. It did a lot of business in Asia, clearing billions each year
in profit. Sometime around 2001, the higher-ups spotted yet another
place to make a buck: Iran.
The Iranian government (as well as a few private corporations) want...
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