ABN Amro shares worry about scale of possible money laundering fine

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – ABN Amro stock fell 4% at the start of trading in Amsterdam on Monday, following reports that the Dutch bank could face a higher-than-expected sanction in an ongoing investigation into money laundering.

The bank’s annual report released last week described an investigation by Dutch prosecutors, launched in September 2019, which was broader than previously. He said he was now also suspected of “culpable money laundering”.

Previously, the allegations were limited to the fact that ABN failed to identify the accounts involved in money laundering, failed to terminate its relationships with suspicious clients and failed to report these transactions to the relevant authorities. .

A spokesperson for ABN Amro said the lender was fully cooperating with the investigation, but gave no further comment.

The new allegation could mean the bank was aware of money laundering activity but failed to act on it, a source familiar with the matter told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on Monday, which was the first to report the news. worded in ABN’s annual report on Monday. .

This could lead to a higher fine for the bank and increase the possibility of bank executives being held individually responsible for money laundering.

“The fine could be bigger than what the market had previously predicted because it means they may have found something more about it,” Jason Kalamboussis, analyst at KBC Securities, told Reuters.

“The investigation could also go on for a longer time, probably without being concluded quickly.”

Dutch bank ING agreed with Dutch prosecutors in 2018 to pay 775 million euros ($ 925 million) to settle a case of non-detection of money laundering and other criminal activity of its clients.

Although the deal meant that no bank manager would be prosecuted, a Dutch court in December last year ordered a criminal investigation into the role of former ING CEO Ralph Hamers in the case after all. .

(1 USD = 0.8378 euros)