US prosecutors are investigating Deutsche Bank and several other global banks over business linked to Iran, Sudan and other nations currently under international sanctions, the New York Times reported today.

The US Justice Department and the Manhattan District Attorney's office are investigating the banks for allegedly using US branches to move billions of dollars in Iran-linked transactions, according to the report, citing unnamed law enforcement officials.

The investigation into Deutsche Bank is at an early stage and so far there is no suspicion the Germany-based institution moved money on behalf of Iranian clients through American operations after 2008, when a policy loophole allowing such manoeuvring closed, the Times reported.

Deutsche Bank decided in 2007 it would "not engage in new business with counterparties in countries such as Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea and to exit existing business to the extent legally possible," a spokesman told Reuters today. He declined to comment further.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office and US Justice Department declined to comment. The US Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report of the Deutsche Bank probe came days after a settlement for $340 million with New York's banking regulator and Britain's Standard Chartered. The Manhattan District Attorney and federal authorities have not yet settled their probes of the bank.

Reuters