Danske Bank chief executive officer Thomas Borgen announced on Wednesday that he is resigning from his post. Mr. Borgen's resignation came after an investigation pinpointed him as one of the perpetrators of several suspicious transactions amounting to $234 billion.
The investigation was launched following a series of money laundering scandals have attracted the attention of some authorities in the United States. The Danish bank's report revealed some cracks with regards to policy compliance. An investigation was launched after the European Union called for stricter regulations in order to curb, if not totally dismantle, financial crime syndicates in the region.
Mr. Borgen was the person in charge of Danske Bank's international operations between 2009 and 2012. Among his area of responsibilities is Estonia, the country where the alleged money laundering took place.
Following these recent developments, some in the banking sector have shown their concern whether the United States will punish Estonia. It is important to note that the United States have already slapped sanctions on Russia because of this very reason.
In Denmark, politicians have crucified the Danske Bank for not revealing the exact amount of money that was allegedly laundered. Furthermore, the bank also did not provide any insider information as to who are the people who should be legally liable for the said lapses. The bank only admitted the actual extent of the money laundering scandal on Wednesday after political pressure from the United States and law enforcement agencies have started to put together the pieces.
In a summary report submitted by the Danske Bank, the company noted that Mr. Borgen, Chairman Ole Andersen, and the board "did not breach their legal obligations." The report covered 15,000 customers and more than 9.5 million payment transactions which took place between 2007 and 2015.
An investigation found out that several dozen of Danske Bank's employees may have connived with customers in order to bypass various background and security checks. The bank later said that it had already reported some of its employees and former employees to the Estonian police.
As part of the company's effort to mitigate the negative effects of the scandal, it said that the bank will donate all of the profits it has earned from suspicious accounts between 2017 and 2015 to charity. The bank later added that it will impose stricter rules and regulations in order to combat international financial crimes. The donation the bank will make to its chosen charity is reportedly around 1.5 billion Danish kroner.
