Deutsche Bank will pay 150 million dollars (133 million euros) to close the files opened by the regulator of the financial services of New York State (DFS) on "significant" failures to respect the rules of conformity in relations of the bank with several clients, including the financier Jeffrey Epstein, now deceased. This is the first time that a financial institution has been prosecuted for business ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the sex criminal who committed suicide in prison in August 2019.

"For years, the criminal and offensive behavior of Jeffrey Epstein was well known, but large institutions continued to excuse this story and to profit from their credibility or their services for financial gain," said Andrei Cuomo, the Governor of the State of New York.

Deutsche Bank recognizes "a major error" 

State officials blame Deutsche Bank for not having watched Jeffrey Epstein's multi-million dollar operations carefully enough when information about his sex crimes and crimes was "widely" circulated.

"Banks are the first line of defense when it comes to preventing crime through the financial system, and it is essential that banks adapt the monitoring of their customers' activity according to the types of risk involved. are asked by a specific client, "said Linda Lacewell, head of DFS. "In the case of Jeffrey Epstein, despite knowing (his) terrible criminal history, it is inexcusable that the bank failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars in suspicious transactions," she added.

In an internal memo to Deutsche Bank employees, group president Christian Sewing said that agreeing to take Jeffrey Epstein as a customer in 2013 was "a major error", while assuring that the bank had contacted the authorities "immediately after "the arrest of Mr. Epstein and collaborated in the investigations. "We all have to make sure this doesn't happen again," he adds. 

Relations with suspected money laundering banks

The DFS also criticizes Deutsche Bank for not having adequately supervised its relations with Danske Estonia and FMBE. Danske Estonia notably transferred large amounts of money on behalf of Russian oligarchs and Deutsche Bank did not prevent the establishment from "transferring billions of dollars in suspicious transactions via Deutsche Bank accounts in New York". 

The DFS also accuses Deutsche Bank of having ignored red flags with regard to FBME, a bank based in Tanzania and accused by the United States of money laundering operations. While assuring that there had been "no intentional internal effort to facilitate illegal activities", a spokesman for Deutsche Bank acknowledged that the institution had "identified various gaps" in its surveillance of the banks that used its clearing services.

With AFP and Reuters 

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