8chan/8kun QResearch Posts (9)
#6515147 at 2019-05-16 20:58:10 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8331: Many Thursday Habbenings Edition
Bank CEO Resigns Following 'Largest Money Laundering Scandal In European History'
Danske Bank's CEO resigned Wednesday after it surfaced the bank had laundered $234 billion through one of its branches in Estonia.
"This is the largest money laundering scandal in European history," Hermitage Capital Management CEO Bill Browder told Reuters. "Danske Bank is a major bank that sends dollars around the world, [and] I imagine that this will certainly get the attention of the U.S. authorities."
"Even though I was personally cleared from a legal point of view, I hold the ultimate responsibility," Danske CEO Thomas Borgen said in a Wednesday statement. "There is no doubt that we as an organization have failed in this situation and did not live up to expectations."
The 54-year-old Borgen will remain CEO until a new leader is appointed, according to Reuters.
Danske Bank shares doubled after Borgen's 2013 appointment as CEO, but the company lost more than a third of the value of its shares after July 2017 when accusations that the bank was conducting fraudulent transactions in Estonia and Denmark began to swirl, prompting criminal investigations.
Danske Baltic chief Ivar Pae stepped down in June after which Estonia's state prosecutor spearheaded an investigation into the bank's activities. A number of other investigations revealed "criminal activity in its pure form, including money laundering," according to Reuters.
The bank failed to clean up its act despite repeated criticism from Estonian and other state regulators. After problems at Danske Bank's Estonian branch arose in early 2014, adequate investigation did not occur and the bank didn't make sufficient changes to prevent future money laundering. "Risk-appetite and risk control were not in balance," Estonia's FSA financial regulator head Kilvar Kessler said in a statement, Reuters reported.
"It is deeply embarrassing that for so many years there have been transactions that should not have taken place. Much of it is expected to be money laundering, and that is simply not good enough by Danske Bank," Danish business minister Rasmus Jarlov said at a Wednesday press conference.
https://dailycaller.com/2018/09/19/danske-bank-ceo-resigns-money-laundering/
#6474508 at 2019-05-11 22:30:38 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8279: Spring Cleaning Edition
>>6474498
Suggest as notable:
>Danish prosecutors have charged Thomas Borgen, former chief executive of Danske Bank, over his involvement in one of the world's biggest money laundering scandals
#6474498 at 2019-05-11 22:29:17 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #8279: Spring Cleaning Edition
Ex-Danske CEO Borgen charged over money laundering case: report
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-danske-bank-moneylaundering-idUSKCN1SD1P3
"Danish prosecutors have charged Thomas Borgen, former chief executive of Danske Bank, over his involvement in one of the world's biggest money laundering scandals, newspaper Borsen reported on Tuesday, citing his lawyer.
Borgen is the first person to be charged in a case that involves suspicious transactions of some 200 billion euros ($224 billion) that passed through Danske Bank's Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.
Denmark's biggest bank is being investigated by authorities in several other countries including the United States, where it could face major fines…"
"Prosecutors raided Borgen's home on March 12, the report quoted the lawyer as saying."
"Denmark's state prosecutor filed preliminary charges against Danske Bank itself in November for alleged violations of the country's anti-money laundering act in relation to its Estonian branch. The prosecutor said at the time he would clarify whether individuals could be held responsible.
The money laundering scandal has spread to Sweden where Swedbank in March dismissed its chief executive over allegations its Baltic accounts were used to launder money."
#3959492 at 2018-11-19 13:06:46 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #5037: Thanksgiving Week Edition
Whistleblower Implicates Deutsche Bank In $150 Billion Money Laundering Scandal
ust when Deutsche Bank probably thought the worst of its legal troubles (over the Libor scandal, sales of shoddy mortgage-backed securities, FX and precious metal rigging which collective resulted in tens of billions in legal fines) were behind it, the struggling German lender is being drawn deeper into the biggest money laundering scandal in European history.
Following reports over the weekend that Deutsche, JPM and Bank of America had been approached by federal investigators about their correspondent banking business's involvement in clearing transactions for Danske Bank's Estonian branch, the whistleblower who helped blow the lid off Danske's $234 billion money laundering scandal said during testimony to the Danish Parliament that $150 billion of the money had been cleared by a large European lender, stopping short of naming Deutsche, likely to respect confidentiality rules governing the whistleblower's work at Danske. Incidentally, as Bloomberg adds citing a "person familiar", the unnamed bank is Deutsche Bank.
Deutsche continued to clear transactions for Danske's Estonia branch until 2015, two years after JPM had ended its correspondent banking relationship with Danske's Estonia branch over AML concerns. The suspicious funds flowed through Danske between 2007 and 2015 before Denmark's largest lender closed its non-resident portfolio over AML concerns.
In an internal audit released earlier this year, Danske admitted that most of the $234 billion in non-resident cash came from suspicious sources in Russia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. With the help of its dollar-clearing correspondent banks, Danske converted the rubles and other foreign currency into dollars and moved it into the Western financial system. Roughly $8 billion of the money was converted via legal-though-shady "Mirror Trades", where a client buys and sells a security in two different currencies, typically to help launder their money into dollars and euros (in a strange but sadly unsurprising coincidence, Deutsche's Moscow desk got caught up in a mirror trading scandal of its own a couple years back).
Howard Wilkinson, the former Danske employee-turned-whistleblower, claimed that some of the money flowed through a London-based trading firm called Lantana Trade, which is rumored to have ties to the family of Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the FSB. Wilkinson is expected to testify before both the Danish and EU parliaments this week, and will also be speaking with US investigators, according to the Financial Times. In addition to the DOJ and SEC, FinCEN has said it is actively interested in the Danske case.
Wilkinson, who first warned Danske's directors in Copenhagen about suspicious activity in Estonia back in 2013 and 2014, also alluded to a "large US bank," which the Financial Times identified as JPM.
Mr. Wilkinson also hit out at "large US bank 1" - known to be JPMorgan Chase - which stopped its correspondent banking relationship with Danske in 2013 over concerns about the non-resident portfolio in Estonia at the heart of the scandal which ran from 2007 until 2015. "It takes them seven years," he said, of how long it took them to end their relationship with Danske.
In the past, correspondent banks involved in money laundering scandals similar to Danske's have been treated as unwitting dupes by prosecutors. But the aggressive steps being taken by US prosecutors (regulators in Denmark, London, Estonia and the EU are also looking into the scandal) suggest that this could be the beginning of a crackdown that could fundamentally change how large international banks manage AML controls on their correspondent banking business.
That, in turn, could create serious problems for Baltic banks, which might find themselves effectively cut off from the broader global financial system, even if they take the necessary steps to tighten their AML controls. According to meeting minutes first reported by the FT, Danske directors acknowledged the suspicious activity in Estonia, but by April 2014, Wilkinson said it had become clear that the bank wasn't planning to act. Indeed, former Danske CEO Thomas Borgen, who had previously run the bank's international business, had reportedly taken steps to protect the Estonian branch, which Danske took over during its acquisition of Finnish Sampo Bank.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-19/danske-money-laundering-whistle-blower-points-finger-deutsche-bank
#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."
#3116905 at 2018-09-21 03:51:27 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #3944: BOOM BOOM BOOM Edition
'Member when DANSKE BANK CEO Thomas Borgen announced his resignation? :
But the bank did reveal that numerous clients appeared linked to some of the most notorious other money laundering operations of the past few years.
For instance, the bank wrote that some 75 customers were involved in the "Azerbaijani Laundromat," the primary money laundering scheme from Azerbaijan's dictatorship.
And Bill Browder, the former hedge fund manager who has become one of the primary activists behind new sanctions against Russia, has long alleged that Danske Bank played a key role in helping launder proceeds from a tax scheme that Browder's former accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered.
Magnitsky was later killed while imprisoned by Russian authorities for uncovering the scheme; the U.S.'s Magnitsky Act, which sanctions corrupt Russian officials, is named in his honor.
(I know-socialistsauce…)
https://
thinkprogress.org/new-findings-expose-the-depths-of-one-of-europes-largest-money-laundering-scandals-9fe4fb50e59b/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5ba4694704d3014c6e2ba6d8&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
#2201371 at 2018-07-18 19:02:09 (UTC+1)
Q Research General #2775 Is it Typical for Congress to Interview Presidential Interpreter Edition
>>2201286
>>2199222 (lb)
Newest danish article about Browder and statements from Danske Bank's director.
https://finans.borsen.dk/artikel/1/365917/danske_bank-boss_om_politianmeldelse_det_tager_vi_til_efterretning.html
18th of july. 2018
Last week, Capital Fund Director Bill Browder made serious of his previous threats and police-reported Danske Bank in connection with the whitewash case.
"We are aware of this. It is the police we are dealing with. We are aware that Bill Browder made a similar review earlier in 2013 and then we deal with the case when we become aware of it from the police, "says Thomas Borgen, CEO of Danske Bank.
In 2013 Bill Browder, director of the capital fund Hermitage Capital, asked Danish authorities to investigate possible money laundering in, among other things, Danske Bank, but due to obsolescence The Attorney General for Special Economic and International Crime (SØIK), better known as the Baghdad Police, rejected the case.
Browder: Danske Bank is a key player
Hermitage Capital is former employer of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who revealed in 2007 that more Russian officials had deducted 230 million. dollars out in tax breaks from the Russian state.
Sergei Magnitsky ended up being convicted of the alleged tax theft and died a year later in a Russian prison. According to Browder, he lost his life because of the case.
The investigation of the case apparently shows that from 2008-2015 more than 200 million floats. dollar, equivalent to more than 1 billion. DKK, through Danske Bank's Estonian branch to companies associated with the fraud case.
According to Bill Browder, Danske Bank is one of the most central banks in the case. The transactions were at the same time that Danske Bank in Estonia was involved in other cases of money laundering.
According to Bill Browder, the data comes from several of the whitewashing studies of the Magnitsky case in 15 countries.
But are you nervous about whether SØIK will start a lawsuit against you?
"No. We have a constructive relationship with all authorities, too, SØIK. If they choose to raise a case, then we must work constructively," says Thomas Borgen.
The Baghdad police take the case seriously.
"I can assure everyone that SØIK takes this case very seriously and we are following the case very closely. SØIK is in connection with its work in contact with the authorities in several countries. I would also like to emphasize that I have full understanding of the great interest in the case, which is entirely justified, "says Morten Niels Jakobsen, Public Prosecutor, SØIK, in a written reply to Børsen.
8chan/8kun QRB Posts (1)
#46579 at 2021-04-19 14:27:47 (UTC+1)
QRB General #107: Habbenings Afoot Edition
Danske CEO bows out over Dutch ABN money laundering inquiry
Danske Bank's chief executive Chris Vogelzang, who was hired to help it recover from a multi-billion dollar money laundering scandal, resigned on Monday after Dutch authorities labelled him as a suspect in a separate case at ABN Amro. Vogelzang said he was quitting after the Dutch prosecution service said it was investigating three former board members at ABN. The Dutch bank also said it had reached a 480 million euro ($577 million) settlement over systematic failures to tackle money laundering. "I am very surprised by the decision by the Dutch authorities," Vogelzang said, adding his status as a suspect did not imply that he would be charged. Vogelzang joins a growing list of European bank CEOs to depart over the past 18 months. Italy's UniCredit , Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse , Germany's Commerzbank and Britain's Lloyds Banking Group have all announced leadership changes since the start of 2020.
And Danske's former CEO, Thomas Borgen, stepped down in September 2018, also over money laundering missteps. Prosecutors in the Netherlands are investigating the failure of bank boards to catch illicit money trails, targeting executives who have since landed top jobs elsewhere. While the prosecutors did not name the three individuals, they said they had been identified as suspects "effectively responsible" for breaking the Dutch money laundering act. ABN's former CEO Gerrit Zalm, a long-time Dutch finance minister, also stepped down from the board on of Denmark's largest bank and confirmed to Dutch broadcaster NOS that he was one of the individuals being targeted.
The investigation into anti money laundering failures at ABN began a year after fellow Dutch bank ING paid a record fine of 775 million euros to settle a similar case.
https://www.reuters.com/article/danske-abn-amro/wrapup-2-danske-ceo-bows-out-over-dutch-abn-money-laundering-inquiry-idUSL1N2MC0T1