Germany's second-largest lender Commerzbank AG is being investigated by the Manhattan U.S. attorney for alleged violations of money-laundering laws, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The new investigation might hurt Commerzbank's chance to settle separate allegations of it violating sanctions by doing business with Iran and Sudan.

In July, U.S. authorities begun settlement talks with Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank over their dealings with countries blacklisted by the United States, extending a crackdown on European banks.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney is now investigating allegations Commerzbank had lax controls for detecting and preventing money laundering, the WSJ reported.

After failing to land high-profile criminal cases stemming from the 2008-09 financial crisis, U.S. authorities have focused on other types of criminal activity within the financial industry, including money laundering, tax evasion and sanctions violations.

Commerzbank was not immediately available for comment.