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Danske Bank money laundering scandal

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The headquarters of Danske Bank in Copenhagen

The Danske Bank money laundering scandal refers to the ongoing investigations and media attention on the Copenhagen-based Danske Bank's involvement in suspicious transactions by non-resident accounts between 2007–2015.[1][2][3] It has been claimed to possibly be the largest money laundering scandal in the world.[4] The total amount of suspicious funds has been quoted by sources as having been either $30 billion US dollars,[5] $130 billion US dollars[6] or up to $230 billion US dollars.[7] The investigation is currently ongoing.

Financial supervision

Danske Bank is the largest bank in Denmark. The bank's local branch in Estonia, which was under the jurisdiction of the Financial Supervisory Authority of Denmark,[8] was used for the activities.[3] The Danish and the Estonian supervisory authorities later released a joint press release on collaborating and sharing information on the case.[9]

Events

In the report released by Bruun&Hjejle, the bank claimed to have had believed for a "long time" that the high risks represented by non-resident customers were mitigated by proper Anti-Money-Laundering procedures. It had become clear that the AML procedures were not sufficient after being tipped off by an internal whistleblower.[10][11] The whistleblower was later identified as Howard Wilkinson, former head of trading in Estonia.[12]

According to the Danish FSA, non-resident portfolios from Russia in 2012 made up 35% of the profits of the local branch. The overall percentage of Russian clients in the branch was 8%.[13] The second highest amount of non-resident portfolios were from the United Kingdom.[11]

In 2014, The Estonian Financial Supervision Authority found "large-scale, long-lasting systemic violations of anti-money laundering rules" in the Estonian branch of Danske Bank and notified the Danish authorities on the findings. According to the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority, the activities decreased after they requested the bank to target the violations.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Finantsinspektsioon: The internal report of Danske is clear evidence that backs up the earlier actions of the independent Estonian financial supervisor to stop breaches by the bank". www.fi.ee. 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2018-10-15. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ "Investigations into Danske Bank's Estonian branch". Danske Bank. 2018-09-19. Archived from the original on 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2018-10-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b "ENGLISH: Links to dead Russian lawyer behind French money laundering probe against Danske Bank". 13 October 2017.
  4. ^ Coppola, Frances (2018-09-26). "The Tiny Bank At The Heart Of Europe's Largest Money Laundering Scandal". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 2018-10-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Danske rahapesu on seni arvatust kardetavasti kordades suurem". 2018-09-04. Archived from the original on 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2018-10-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Danske chief says laundered money nearly €130 billion". 2018-09-08. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  7. ^ Gricius, Gabriella (2018-10-08). "The Danske Bank Scandal Is the Tip of the Iceberg". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2018-10-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Statement by Finantsinspektsioon, an Estonian financial supervision and resolution authority, on information published in the media about the Estonian branch of Danske Bank". www.fi.ee. Retrieved 2018-10-15. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  9. ^ "Joint statement by the Estonian FSA and the Danish FSA". www.fi.ee. Retrieved 2018-10-15. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ "Report on the Non-Resident Portfolio at Danske Bank's Estonian branch" (PDF). 2018-09-19.
  11. ^ a b "Report on the Non-Resident Portfolio at Danske Bank's Estonian branch" (PDF). 2018-09-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  12. ^ Jensen, Teis (2018-08-26). "Danske Bank whistleblower was former Baltics trading head:..." Reuters. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  13. ^ Danske Bank's management and governance in relation to the AML case at the Estonian branch
  14. ^ "Statement by Finantsinspektsioon, an Estonian financial supervision and resolution authority, on information published in the media about the Estonian branch of Danske Bank". Archived from the original on 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2018-10-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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