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Brussels has pledged to continue the EU's investigation into the money laundering scandal in Danske Bank's $ 200m bank, saying the bank's gendarme has "undermined its own credibility" Closing his investigation without making a decision.
The European Commission was shocked by the decision of the European Banking Authority this month to reject its own draft report showing shortcomings in the way the Danish and Estonian authorities supervised Danske. The operations of the Danish bank in Estonia were at the center of last year's revelations of dirty money flows in Europe.
Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova told the Financial Times that "the case of Danske Bank is not closed for us, regardless of the decision of EBA".
"It's important that lessons are learned. . . and that supervision at the national level is effective and fully in line with EU law, "she said. "I'll make sure this case does not go under the carpet."
EU officials said the Danske case would give new impetus to efforts to strengthen the enforcement of anti-money laundering rules at EU level, in the wake of appeals. from Paris to more European control.
Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for the Economy, told the FT that European supervisory authorities, such as the EBA, "must be able to make difficult decisions that prevail over national interests and apply them".
Recent scandals "highlight the limits" of the current configuration, he said.
The Danske Bank scandal is one of the biggest among a number of money laundering cases discovered in the EU since early 2018.
The regulators found that the bank's Estonian branch had processed large flows of money from non-residents – largely suspects and from Russia. The bank itself and its supervisors have failed to solve the problem for years despite warnings from the Russian central bank.
The agency said its board of supervisors felt that the shortcomings highlighted did not constitute a violation of the law of the Union, which contradicts the findings of a draft report prepared by his own services.
The EBA also stated that board members were reluctant to go further as the investigation concerned events that occurred several years ago, when an old version of the law of the European Parliament was in force. EU against money laundering was in force and that some of the legal requirements were applicable. "Not clear and unconditional".
Although Brussels can not force EBA to reconsider its decision or publish the draft report, Ms Jourova said that Brussels is determined to use its powers to shed light on the anomalies and to prevent them from doing so. do not breed.
The Commissioner stated that she had "initiated a bilateral dialogue with the Ministers of Denmark and Estonia" and that Brussels was monitoring the changes made by both countries to their laws.
Brussels has already launched "infringement proceedings" against Denmark and Estonia for failing to transfer the EU anti-money laundering rules into their national laws.
EU law requires the bank to carry out due diligence on customers and take other measures to prevent suspicious transactions.
The EBA is responsible for verifying that national authorities apply the rules and conduct investigations when things go wrong. This year, the EU has taken steps to give the agency more resources and greater powers in this regard.
EU officials said, however, that the closure of Danske Bank's investigation had shown that the current decision-making structure of the European Banking Authority left the means to control its own members.
According to them, one of the particular problems is that its board of supervisors is composed of representatives of national supervisors who are reluctant to judge each other.
Officials said Brussels was considering possible reform options after governments this year rejected proposals to give EBA more full-time decision-makers who were not tied to supervisory authorities. national.
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