Danske Bank boss resigns after $234 billion money laundering inquiry

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-danske-bank-moneylaundering/danske-bank-boss-resigns-after-234-billion-money-laundering-inquiry-idUKKCN1LZ0UO?il=0

Danske Bank boss resigns after $234 billion money laundering inquiry

Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Teis Jensen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danske Bank’s chief executive Thomas Borgen quit on Wednesday following an investigation into payments totalling some 200 billion euros (177.56 billion pounds) through its Estonian branch, many of which the Danish bank said were suspicious.

“It is clear that Danske Bank has failed to live up to its responsibility in the case of possible money laundering in Estonia. I deeply regret this,” Borgen said in a statement which detailed failings in compliance, communication and controls.

Regulators and the financial community will scrutinise the Danske Bank report, which follows calls by Brussels for a new European Union watchdog to crack down on financial crime following a series of major money laundering scandals.

Danske Bank said its investigation had concluded that Borgen, Chairman Ole Andersen and the board of directors “did not breach their legal obligations towards Danske Bank”, adding that it had taken action against some staff.
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Danske Bank’s report, which covered around 15,000 customers and 9.5 million payments for the period 2007-2015, said that some 6,200 customers had been examined.

“Overall, we expect a significant part of the payments to be suspicious,” Danske said in a statement.
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