A whistleblower from Danske said that a large European bank had processed $ 150 billion in payments | New

By Teis Jensen and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – The whistleblower that revealed money laundering involving Danske Bank On Monday, a large European bank had helped deal with up to $ 150 billion in suspicious payments and two US lenders were also involved.

The Danish, Estonian, British and US authorities are investigating payments totaling 200 billion euros (228.5 billion dollars) made through Danske Bank 's tiny Estonian agency between 2007 and 2015, as part of a growing global scandal.

Howard Wilkinson, who headed the Danske Bank's bargaining unit in the Baltic States from 2007 to 2014, said at a Danish parliamentary hearing that other banks were also involved.

"I suppose that 150 billion dollars have passed through this bank (the big European bank) in the United States," said the British, without naming any of the other banks.

German Bank , JP Morgan and Bank of America all cleared dollar transactions for Danske's Estonian branch, some up to 2015, sources told Reuters.

The leading German bank and JPMorgan, which, according to one of the sources, terminated its correspondent relationship with the Danske branch in Tallinn in 2013, declined to comment. Bank of America, which previously declined to comment on the case, did not immediately respond to an email requesting a comment.

"Nobody really knows where this money went – all we know is that these three big American banks were the last to see it – it was the last check. instead, this money was destined for the global financial system, "Wilkinson said.

Acting CEO, Jesper Nielsen, said the case had tarnished Danske Bank's reputation.

"We have exceeded the expectations of the company.The case and the evolution of events do not reflect the bank we want to be," Nielsen told Danish lawmakers after Wilkinson's testimony.

Wilkinson said Danske Bank had offered cash not to speak, but had obtained a waiver last month allowing him to talk to some US authorities, adding that he did not expect not that investigations of "dirty money" bear fruit.

"There is no chance in the world (…) that all this money is found and criminals lose a cent," he said.

"LACK OF INTEREST"

Danske Bank acknowledged that its money laundering controls in Estonia were inadequate, but in a report published in September, its board, president and CEO did not fail to comply with their legal obligations.

"In April 2014, it became clear that the bank had no intention of doing anything," said the former Danske Bank employee, referring to previous reports of pitchers. ;alert. "There was a curious lack of interest at the management level."

Wilkinson said that at the beginning of January 2014, he had examined the three most profitable accounts involving British limited companies (LLPs).

"They were all wrong, not only that, they were all basically the same, and it turned out that they all had the same head office in a suburb of north London … I passed them on. In April, none of the accounts .. had been closed. "

"I warned them (Danske) that if they did not conduct an appropriate investigation and did not submit the proper report to the police, I would do it myself," Wilkinson said.

In September of this year, Danske Bank announced that the first report on whistleblowing, entitled "Disclosure of Alert – Knowingly Treat Criminals in Estonia", was sent in late December 2013 to its board of directors. Administration, in the service of group compliance and its internal auditor.

However, the bank's report concludes that the "red flags" have not been shared with ex-CEO Thomas Borgen when he assumed the ultimate executive responsibility of Estonia in 2009 to 2012.

Mr Borgen left his post as CEO following the September report, claiming that even though he had been "laundered from a legal point of view", he was assuming "ultimate responsibility".

The scandal came on the heels of a major government-imposed tax scandal and fraud scandal at the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs, undermining trust in once-trusted institutions and prompting calls for action from legislators.

Wilkinson said that the financial regulator of the FSA in Denmark, who was not immediately available for comment, had not contacted him before the publication of a report on the allegations in May 2018, and called on the Danish authorities to investigate the role of the FSA.

"If Howard Wilkinson is right in saying that he can not speak to the Danish authorities without being sued, he must obviously change.The authorities must thoroughly investigate the case and can only do so if they can get information, Danish Foreign Minister Rasmus Jarlov says on Twitter.

The FSA said in May that it had not found a sufficient basis to prosecute Danske Bank's management.

(Report by Teis Jensen, complementary report by Stine Jacobsen, written by Alexander Smith, edited by Keith Weir)