Danske Bank CEO Renounces $ 234 Billion Money Laundering Scandal

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danske Bank (DANSKE.COCEO Thomas Borgen resigned Wednesday in a 200 billion euro money-laundering scandal through his Estonian agency between 2007 and 2015, most of whom were suspects.

"It is clear that Danske Bank has not lived up to its responsibilities in the event of possible money laundering in Estonia. I deeply regret it, "said Borgen in a statement that details failures in compliance, communication and controls.

Regulators and the financial community will look closely at the Danske Bank report, which follows Brussels' calls for a new EU watchdog to fight financial crime after a series of scandals involving anti-money laundering controls.

ING Dutch Bank (INGA.ASThis month, criminals admitted to laundering money on their accounts and agreed to pay 775 million euros ($ 900 million) to settle the case.

One-third of Danske Bank's stock market value has been erased over the last six months, mainly due to concerns about a potential investigation by the US authorities and penalties they may incur.

Danske Bank stated that its investigation into the case had concluded that Mr Borgen, President Ole Andersen and the Board of Directors "did not violate their legal obligations towards Danske Bank".

While Danske said she was unable to provide an accurate estimate of suspicious transactions through her Estonian branch, she said the non-resident portfolio included clients from Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and other ex-Soviet states.

The report revealed that Danske Bank failed to take appropriate action in 2007 when it was criticized by the Estonian regulator and received information from its Danish counterpart indicating "criminal activities such as money laundering".

And when an alert launcher posed problems to the Estonian subsidiary in early 2014, the allegations have not been investigated properly and have not been investigated. been shared with the board, said Danske.

Although measures were taken to control his Estonian business in 2014, they were insufficient, according to the report.

Danske Bank has also stated that it has decided not to migrate its Baltic banking activities to its IT platform, as this would cost too much. As a result, the Estonian branch did not use Danske's anti-money laundering procedures.

US authorities earlier this year accused the Latvian ABLV of covering money laundering and the bank was quickly denied US dollar funding, which led to its collapse.

While Danske does not have a banking license in the United States, banning the corresponding US banks from attacking them would amount to excluding them from the global financial network.

The bank, whose shares fell 5% following the report's release, also lowered its annual net profit forecast to 16-17 billion Danish kroner, up from 18-20 billion previously.