Deutsche Bank’s headquarters were raided by German authorities on Friday, as part of a criminal investigation looking into potential money laundering activities.
Law enforcement officials from the prosecutor’s office, along with Germany’s BKA federal police and regulators from BaFin, descended onto Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, armed with a search warrant based on suspicions that bank employees may have contravened anti-money laundering laws. The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, revealed the ransacking was over questionable money flows processed by Deutsche Bank on behalf of lenders, whereby the bank acted as a correspondent bank conducting cross-border money flows between lenders.
Specifically, criminal prosecutors were looking into whether or not the bank contravened its legal obligations by not notifying authorities of the suspicious activity sooner. “This is an investigative measure by the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office in connection with suspicious activity reports filed by the bank,” Deutsche Bank confirmed in a statement. “Deutsche Bank is fully cooperating with the authorities.”
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The latest raid is ill timing for its CEO Christian Sewing, who recently embarked on a restructuring that aimed to put an end to the bank’s long-standing account of legal and misconduct allegations. “In recent years, we have reduced our legal risks significantly,” he said back in 2019, as cited by the Financial Times. He added that the lender allocated significant capital towards beefing up internal controls, assuring that the bank is “constantly improving and won’t make any compromises.”
Information for this briefing was found via the Financial Times and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
