Shares of Dankse Bank, the largest bank in Denmark, fell by around 3% on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange after the local newspaper Berlingske reported on investigation into the bank’s alleged laundering of $ 8.3 billion through its subsidiary in Estonia.
The country’s economy minister, Rasmus Jarlov, said that what appeared to be a serious case is getting worse and that the bank’s internal investigation is not enough, according to the Financial Times.
The accusations about money laundering that surround Dankse began some months ago. In April, Lars Morch, a member of the executive board of Danske Bank and head of the bank’s business banking since 2012, including the area of international banking and the operations of the Danish bank in the Baltic countries, resigned from his position as a result of the scandal.
The bank opened an investigation into the matter after the aforementioned Danish newspaper revealed that the laxity of controls in its Estonian subsidiary facilitated the laundering of capital from countries such as Russia, Moldova or Azerbaijan between 2007 and 2015.
In 2013 Berlingske claimed that the bank had closed 20 accounts of Russian clients after an informant warned of possible illegalities in its Estonian subsidiary.The accusations against Danske bank is just the latest in series of run-ins between European banks and regulators concerning money laundering charges.
