Estonia’s Financial Supervision Agency has ordered Danske Bank to leave the country, saying that the Danish bank’s $230 billion money-laundering scandal had marred Estonia’s financial market’s reputation.
Danske Bank said it would comply with the order that demands they leave the country within eight months. It also plans to stop offering banking services in Russia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In September, an internal report at the bank revealed it had failed for years to prevent money laundering through the Tallinn branch.
In December, the Estonian police arrested 10 former employees of Danske Bank, charging them for being involved in a network of money launderers.
Danske Bank is the largest bank in Denmark.
It also faces investigations by the US Department of Justice and other authorities. And on 18 February 2019, the European Banking Authority said it had started an investigation in both the Danish and the Estonian financial authorities for possible breach of their obligations towards Danske Bank.
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Cover: Danske Bank’s branch in Tallinn, Estonia (Wikimedia Commons).
