London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Deutsche Bank took years to flag suspect Danske money flows

Deutsche Bank took years to flag suspect Danske money flows

Deutsche Bank did not disclose more than one million suspect money transfers with Danske Bank until February, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, about five years after a whistleblower flagged suspicious transactions at Danske.

Deutsche sent alerts about the suspect money flows involving the Danish bank to Germany’s money laundering data authority and state prosecutors, the person said, prompting investigators to seek more information from Deutsche.

Prosecutors are now investigating whether staff or management at Deutsche sanctioned the transactions, and whether they subsequently tried to cover them up, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Deutsche did not comment on the time taken to flag the transactions to authorities, which has previously not been reported, but said it ended its relationship with Danske in 2015 and had strengthened its anti-money laundering controls.

Danske Bank was ejected from Estonia this year after admitting 200 billion euros ($220 billion) of suspicious money flowed through its branch there between 2007 and 2015.

Deutsche was dragged into the scandal because it processed the bulk of the transactions for the Danish bank, leading German prosecutors to visit Deutsche’s headquarters last month with police and a search warrant.

Asked about the case, Deutsche said in an emailed statement that it “remains committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations.”

“We have considerably increased staff numbers in Anti-Financial Crime and more than tripled our staff since 2015. We invested since 2016 700 million euros in upgrading our key control functions there.”

Following the information from Deutsche, German prosecutors visited their counterparts in Estonia in recent weeks to investigate the suspect money flows further, the person said.

Prosecutors are now investigating a small fraction of the 1.1 million transfers flagged by Deutsche, involving Russia and former Soviet states in 2014 and 2015, the person added.

If investigators find that Deutsche staff or management sanctioned and covered up its involvement in the suspicious transactions, those bankers or the group itself could face criminal prosecution, the person said.

That would deal another blow to Deutsche’s reputation and a setback to Chief Executive Christian Sewing’s drive to turn around Germany’s biggest lender.


INVESTIGATIONS

Once Germany’s flagship bank on Wall Street, Deutsche has been shrinking to try to return to sustainable profitability and has been hit by a string of penalties, including a $7.2 billion fine in 2017 for selling toxic U.S. mortgages before the financial crash.

Now, it faces a series of investigations, including one over sham trades to move hundreds of billions of roubles out of Russia, as it struggles to regain the trust of investors, staff and politicians in Germany.

Deutsche is one of a number of large international banks to become embroiled in a money laundering scandal in the Baltics, former Soviet satellite states on the edge of Europe that often acted as a staging post for money leaving Russia for the west.

A spokesman for Deutsche said it ended the relationship with Danske in 2015 after identifying “an increase in suspicious transactions from Danske clients over an extended period of time.”

But it is unclear why Deutsche did not report the suspicious fund transfers until earlier this year.

Germany’s Financial Intelligence Unit, which gathers the so-called suspicious activity reports, declined to comment.

A person familiar with the matter said the time taken to report the transactions was unlikely to lead to a penalty from German financial regulator BaFin because Deutsche’s role as a so-called correspondent bank was secondary to Danske.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×