[JURIST] The Bank of New York [corporate website] has agreed to pay $38 million in fines in order to avoid prosecution on fraud and money laundering charges, federal prosecutors announced [PDF press release] Tuesday. The federal investigation into the bank, the oldest in the US, began after the financial institution took part in a scheme involving $7 billion in illicit transfers from Russia in the late 1990s; a former bank executive and her husband have already pleaded guilty to money laundering charges. According to the agreement, the Bank of New York will pay $26 million to the government and $12 million to fraud victims and has also agreed to adopt sweeping reforms to address reporting failures under the Bank Secrecy Act and ensure compliance with anti-fraud and anti-money laundering safeguards. The reforms will be monitored by an independent examiner for three years, though bank officials say they have already implemented many of the required reforms [press release]. AP has more.