Wall Street's top cop just blacklisted a Washington consulting firm

Promontory Financial Group, the influential Washington, D.C. consulting firm, was fined $15 million by New York regulators for sanitizing a report on Standard Chartered's violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

While it was investigating Standard Chartered, the New York State Department of Financial Services relied on reports produced by Promontory.

Those reports included testimony that "lacked credibility" the regulator has found. Standard Chartered was Promontory's client, the DFS explained, and so the consultant changed language in the report for the bank's benefit. From the report:

In addition to the fine, the regulator is also banning Promontory from having access to confidential information.

"The Department will continue to aggressively investigate and address conflicts of interest at consulting firms, which is a critical part of combating misconduct and improving accountability in the financial markets," said acting superintendent Anthony Albanese.

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