Danske Bank Faces the Music for Money-Laundering Corruption

Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank, has been caught in a money-laundering scandal that has sent its CEO packing and halved its share price. The country’s regulatory agency, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), stands accused of knowing but not acting with alacrity on money laundering shenanigans, even with a 2012 FSA report that describes some of the bank’s customers as being “insufficiently legitimized.”

The Estonian branch of Danske Bank specifically is under the spotlight for its handling of $227bn of suspicious transactions originating from various ex-Soviet countries. Eight other banks have also been implicated, including three banks that link the Estonian branch to America’s financial system.

Danish prosecutors filed criminal charges against Danske Bank on November 28; other investigations have also been triggered, including by America’s DoJ and Estonian authorities. So far, the bank is accused of failing to report suspicious transactions, lacking a senior compliance manager, and failing to train staff on anti-money-laundering protocols.

Although no evidence has reportedly been found yet, American investigators are looking into whether money was handled for people or companies subject to U.S. sanctions.

Danske Bank has a $2.7bn reserve fund set aside for potential fines, and they continue to add to it. In the years preceding, several people had alerted authorities about the shady transactions but were sidelined with NDA’s or by regulators who were not eager to police the bank.

Resource articles:
Bloomberg "Danske May Face Smaller Fine After ‘Draconian’ Management Purge"
The Economist "The first charges for money-laundering are laid against Danske Bank"
MarketWatch "Danske Bank charged in money-laundering scandal"

Danske Bank reveals it’s built up $2.7 billion in reserves to absorb potential fines for its role in one of Europe’s worst ever money laundering scandals https://t.co/OlRf99eDQM

— Bloomberg (@business) December 6, 2018