The European Union’s banking supervisor will look into how Denmark’s financial watchdog supervised Danske Bank (DANSKE.CO), which last week said it was being investigated by the US Department of Justice over alleged money laundering.
“We are doing preliminary breach of union law inquiries on… the Danske bank case in Denmark,” EBA Chair Andrea Enria told the European Parliament on October 8.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, the European Banking Authority has powers to make recommendations that national supervisors must follow.
Enria also told parliament that the EBA is launching a review into how all EU member states apply anti-money laundering rules. It will report by the end of 2018.
Danske Bank’s revelation last month that between 2007 and 2015 payments totalling €200m flowed through its tiny Estonian branch, many of which Denmark’s largest lender said were “suspicious”, has prompted calls for an overhaul of bank supervision in Europe, reported Reuters.
Enria also said EBA had opened a preliminary inquiry into how Latvia’s financial watchdog supervised ABLV bank which went into liquidation this year after US authorities accused it of laundering money for people from the former Soviet Union.
