8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (5)
#5757737 at 2019-03-18 21:04:55 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #7364: PATRIOTS ARE IN CONTROL EDITION
Danske Bank investors express anger over money laundering scandal
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danske Bank's annual shareholder meeting extended into the fifth hour on Monday as retail investors expressed their discontent over the bank's involvement in one of the world's biggest money laundering scandals. Some of the 700 or so shareholders present called for management to be held personally responsible and others demanded the bank be split up as the fallout from the scandal continues.
Denmark's largest bank is under investigation in the United States, Denmark, Estonia, France and Britain over 200 billion euros ($226 billion) in payments that were found to have flowed through its Estonian branch from Russia, former Soviet states and elsewhere between 2007 and 2015. Since the scandal surfaced last year the bank has replaced its CEO and the chairman, pulled out of Russia and the Baltics, boosted its compliance efforts and promised to donate 1.5 billion Danish crowns ($230 million) to fighting financial fraud. Danske told shareholders on Monday that former and current executives have waived bonuses because of the scandal. "The executive board has decided to waive the bonuses that could have been paid for 2018," new Chairman Karsten Dybvad said at the meeting in Copenhagen. Dybvad said he supported the decision but did not disclose the size of the bonuses being waived.
Danske's share price halved in 2018 but has stabilized this year, with no major new revelations about the bank having emerged as other lenders have become entangled in the scandal, including Deutsche Bank and Swedbank. Yet the bank's involvement in money laundering through its Estonian branch was by far the biggest issue at the AGM, where shareholders were greeted outside by about a dozen protestors. "The bank has made a fool out of shareholders, customers and the entire Danish population," shareholder Nanna Bonde said at the AGM.
Several retail investors voiced concern about potential lawsuits from investor groups. Danske Bank and four former top executives were sued in January by a U.S. shareholder that accused the bank of defrauding investors and inflating its share price by hiding and failing to stop money laundering. "It is our fundamental position that the bank has lived up to its information obligation," Dybvad said when asked about potential investor lawsuits. "As such we don't find any basis for lawsuits or for a settlement".
The former CEO of the influential Confederation of Danish Industry replaced Ole Andersen as Danske chairman at a December extraordinary general meeting called by the Maersk family, the largest shareholder in the bank and in shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk. Dybvad told Monday's AGM that 2018 had been a low point for Danske but also a turning point, adding that last year also marked the start of internal dialogue about the bank's rOle in society.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-danske-bk-agm/danske-bank-investors-express-anger-over-money-laundering-scandal-idUSKCN1QZ1RZ?il=0
#3757931 at 2018-11-06 15:39:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4774: Prayers For The Day Ahead Editon
Maersk family ousts Danske Bank chairman after scandal
Danske Bank's (DANSKE.CO) largest shareholder, the Maersk family, has ousted the lender's chairman after a money laundering scandal that has also forced out its chief executive. A.P. Moller Holding, which controls about 21 percent of the share capital in the bank, has nominated Karsten Dybvad, who currently heads the Confederation of Danish Industry, to replace Ole Andersen as chairman of Denmark's largest bank.
The move is a rare example of Denmark's Maersk family, which controls shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) through A.P. Moller Holding, openly flexing its muscles to seek change at one of its investments. "Danske Bank requires new leadership and changes to its board to strengthen its position as a leading Nordic bank," Robert Uggla, chief executive of family-owned A.P. Moller Holding said in a statement. Andersen, who was appointed chairman seven years ago, has agreed to step down from the board at an extraordinary general meeting to be held within two weeks.
The change follows a scandal that involved 200 billion euros ($230 billion) in payments through Danske's Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015, many of which the bank said in a report in September it thinks are suspicious. Danske is the subject of criminal investigations in Denmark, Estonia and the United States.
A new chairman is needed "to strengthen the bank's ability to address its culture, compliance program and engagement with regulators," the leading shareholder said. Danske Bank Chief Executive Thomas Borgen quit in September when the group published the report into the transactions. Turmoil at the bank deepened the following month when Jacob Aarup-Andersen, the board's choice to take over as chief executive, was rejected by the country's financial regulator because of a lack of experience. "I share the perception of the need for a new board, and as I have previously announced I also believe it is right for me to leave the chairmanship to new forces," outgoing chairman Andersen said in a statement. Danish pension funds PFA and ATP both support the nomination of Dybvad as new chairman, A.P. Moller Holding said. Danske said on Tuesday that it was still searching for a permanent chief executive.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-danske-bank-moneylaundering-chairman/maersk-family-ousts-danske-bank-chairman-after-scandal-idUSKCN1NB1SL?il=0
#3757622 at 2018-11-06 15:12:59 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4773: May God Bless This Day And Lead Us To Victory Edition
Maersk family ousts Danske Bank chairman after scandal
Danske Bank's (DANSKE.CO) largest shareholder, the Maersk family, has ousted the lender's chairman after a money laundering scandal that has also forced out its chief executive. A.P. Moller Holding, which controls about 21 percent of the share capital in the bank, has nominated Karsten Dybvad, who currently heads the Confederation of Danish Industry, to replace Ole Andersen as chairman of Denmark's largest bank.
The move is a rare example of Denmark's Maersk family, which controls shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) through A.P. Moller Holding, openly flexing its muscles to seek change at one of its investments. "Danske Bank requires new leadership and changes to its board to strengthen its position as a leading Nordic bank," Robert Uggla, chief executive of family-owned A.P. Moller Holding said in a statement. Andersen, who was appointed chairman seven years ago, has agreed to step down from the board at an extraordinary general meeting to be held within two weeks.
The change follows a scandal that involved 200 billion euros ($230 billion) in payments through Danske's Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015, many of which the bank said in a report in September it thinks are suspicious. Danske is the subject of criminal investigations in Denmark, Estonia and the United States.
A new chairman is needed "to strengthen the bank's ability to address its culture, compliance program and engagement with regulators," the leading shareholder said. Danske Bank Chief Executive Thomas Borgen quit in September when the group published the report into the transactions. Turmoil at the bank deepened the following month when Jacob Aarup-Andersen, the board's choice to take over as chief executive, was rejected by the country's financial regulator because of a lack of experience. "I share the perception of the need for a new board, and as I have previously announced I also believe it is right for me to leave the chairmanship to new forces," outgoing chairman Andersen said in a statement. Danish pension funds PFA and ATP both support the nomination of Dybvad as new chairman, A.P. Moller Holding said. Danske said on Tuesday that it was still searching for a permanent chief executive.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-danske-bank-moneylaundering-chairman/maersk-family-ousts-danske-bank-chairman-after-scandal-idUSKCN1NB1SL?il=0
#3171885 at 2018-09-25 00:37:28 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #4015: Christine Ford Was Passed Around, But Not By Judge K Edition
EU Calls for Investigation of Danske Money-Laundering Scandal
"The snowballing money-laundering scandal at Danske Bank A/S has led European Union authorities to investigate whether the lenders' supervisors did enough to prevent it.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, called on the bloc's banking regulator to determine if Danske's supervisors in Denmark and Estonia followed the rules in handling the case. Danske may face a fine as high as $1.7 billion, according to analysts at Svenska Handelsbanken AB, after it admitted that its Estonian unit may have been used to launder a "large" part of about $234 billion between 2007 and 2015.
In a Sept. 21 letter seen by Bloomberg, the commission asked the European Banking Authority to treat the investigation "with the necessary degree of urgency." Criminal investigations are already under way in Denmark and Estonia, and U.S. and U.K. authorities are looking into the case. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Borgen will step down and Chairman Ole Andersen says that several employees have been reported to the police."
#2882311 at 2018-09-05 03:25:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #3644: Holding The Line
Billions from ex-Soviet states passed through Danske Bank in 2013
Nearly US$30 billion of Russian and ex-Soviet money passed through accounts of the troubled Estonian branch of Danske Bank, Financial Times reported. A report commissioned by the bank and seen by the Financial Times says that the 30 billion flowed through the bank's accounts in just one year. In July Berlinske reported that some US$8.3 billion were laundered through the Danske Bank Estonia operation. This would constitute one of Europe's largest ever known cases of money laundering. The report raises the question whether the bank's leadership knew about the dealings of its Estonian branch. A whistleblower had sent an e-mail to the management, reporting about what was going in the Estonian offices and Estonian regulators were also conducting an investigation. This all prompted the bank, although years later, to hire a consultant and launch its own investigation. The report by Promontory Financial found that the 30 billion were passed through accounts of non-residents in 2013, when 80,000 transactions were recorded. The scandal apparently lasted from 2007 until 2015. "We are in the process of finalising reports, but as we have already communicated, it is clear that the issues related to the portfolio were bigger than we have previously anticipated," Ole Andersen, the chairman of Danske Bank told the Financial Times. He said US$ 8.3 billion out of the 30 billion were suspicious. Denmarks Financial Supervisory Authority stated in a joint statement with the Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority that a criminal procedure is decided, and carried out by police and public prosecutors, with regard to money laundering and terrorist financing.
https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/8546-billions-of-soviet-money-passed-through-danske-bank-in-2013