Riggs was long an active bank in the diplomatic community

Riggs Bank agreed to pay a fine of $16m (�9m) after an investigation by the US justice department into its handling of foreigners' accounts.

"The bank regrets what has occurred and has co-operated fully," its lawyer told a judge in Washington DC.

Riggs was fined $25m last year for failing to prevent money laundering.

Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina must approve the proposed fine before it can be paid.

Since last year's fine, Riggs has sold its diplomatic and international businesses and is currently up for sale itself.

'Lies'

A US Senate report earlier alleged that Riggs helped the former Chilean leader hide up to $8m and evade efforts to seize his assets.

It said that the Washington-based bank had set up several accounts for Gen Pinochet while he was under house arrest in the UK in 1998.

Gen Pinochet's son later dismissed the findings as "lies".

The Senate investigation also found that, between 1995 and 2004, Riggs had administered more than 60 accounts for Equatorial Guinean officials or their family members.

The Senate found, for example, that Riggs had opened multiple personal accounts for President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, his wife and other relatives.

Riggs also helped establish offshore corporations for the head of state and his sons, the Senate said.

Equatorial Guinea's government has denied that accounts held at Riggs Bank belonged to the presidential family.