Deutsche Bank fined more than $ 16 million for violating US bribery laws



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Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay more than $ 16 million to settle charges of violating US bribery laws by hiring parents of foreign government officials to win or retain contracts, the US regulator said in a statement. communicated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has alleged that the largest German lender hired low-qualified or unskilled parents of officials from Asia and Russia at their request, in violation of the law of transnational bribery.

Between 2006 and 2014 at least, he stated that Deutsche employed family members of executives working in state-owned companies in China and Russia with the main objective of generating business activities, such as than initial public offers.

The SEC also found that Deutsche employees had created fake books and records concealing corrupt hiring practices and failing to document and accurately record certain related expenses, in violation of internal accounting rules.

As part of the settlement, Deutsche Bank has not admitted or denied the findings, the SEC said.

"Deutsche Bank has provided substantial cooperation to the SEC as part of its investigation and has implemented many corrective measures to improve the bank's recruitment practices," said a spokesman for Deutsche in a statement sent to Reuters.

The settlement of $ 16 million includes restitution of $ 10.8 million, interest of $ 2.4 million and a civil fine of $ 3 million, the SEC said.

RUSSIA FOUTE CONDUCT

Deutsche is one of many global banks investigating the hiring of so-called "princelings" in China.

In 2016, JPMorgan agreed to pay $ 264 million to US authorities to resolve charges that parents of Chinese officials were hired to win bank transactions, while Credit Suisse paid $ 77 million to settle a case. similar last year.

However, there have been fewer investigations of similar cases in Russia.

The SEC said that from 2009 to 2012 "Deutsche Bank employees hired family members at the request of foreign officials in Russia to obtain or retain business or other benefits."

He gave an example of 2009 in which an anonymous "deputy minister" of a Russian government entity had asked the bank to hire his daughter.

"We need to! We should have it in London because it is NOT politically correct to have it in Moscow! ", Said on this occasion the head of the bank to Russia, in an e-mail addressed to his superiors.

Deutsche hired the girl as a temporary employee in Moscow, according to the SEC. Four months later, the bank failed to obtain the contract it had requested from the Russian government.

The lender then arranged for the girl to get a permanent job and be transferred to London. Ten days later, Deutsche Bank received a request for proposal signed by his father for a "EUR 2 billion issue in Eurobonds," the SEC said.

In 2010, Deutsche hired the son of a senior executive of a Russian public company in Moscow, at the request of the latter, according to the SEC.

The bank then transferred him to a graduate program in London, while the human resources department claimed he was "probably not eligible" for the program.

Two months later, the bank sent him back to Moscow after human resources told him "he did not go to work, he was cheated on an exam and he became obstacle to the reputation of the program, if not of the firm ".

The SEC said Deutsche had taken important corrective measures to address its hiring problems and internal accounting controls.

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