By Vish Gain for AMLi
DNB ASA, Norway’s largest bank, could face a 400 million kroner (€37m) for not complying with the country’s anti-money laundering rules, the bank said in a statement Monday.
Finanstilsynet, Norway’s financial supervisory authority based in Oslo, indicated in a preliminary report sent to the bank that it may impose the administrative fine following a February AML inspection that found inadequate compliance with the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act.
DNB maintains it is not complicit in any case of money laundering, saying the report is based on “what Finanstilsynet considers to be inadequate compliance with the anti-money laundering rules and legislation”.
The inspection only applies to DNB’s operations in Norway.
In a statement, DNB said the 400 million kroner fine constitutes about 7 per cent of the maximum amount Finanstilsynet is at liberty to impose and 0.7 per cent of DNB’s annual turnover.
DNB’s share price fell as much as 1.9% and was down 0.8% as of 10:40 am in Oslo, according to Bloomberg.
The bank says it takes Finanstilsynet’s notice “very seriously”, adding: “The fight against financial crime is an important part of DNB’s corporate responsibility, and it is a task on which the company spends considerable resources.”
“DNB has implemented extensive measures and investments in recent years to comply with the anti-money laundering rules and legislation,” the statement said.
This comes at a time when two other big Nordic players, Swedbank AB and Danske Bank A/S, have been embroiled in high-value scandals following serious AML deficiencies.
In March earlier this year, Swedbank was slapped with a record $386 million (€319m) fine for money-laundering breaches. Meanwhile, Danske Bank is investigating its internal governance after it was found that more than €200 billion of dirty money flowed through its Estonian subsidiary undetected.
DNB has had its share of problems in the AML space. Last year, the bank was investigated by police amid reports it was used by an Icelandic fishing company to launder funds via operations in Namibia.
Share this on:
Follow us on:
We hope you enjoyed reading this article
If you would like unlimited access to AML Intelligence premium articles, newsletter delivered twice a week, access to our Global Bank Fines and Penalties database, free access to Boardroom Series events and much more, select one of our subscription options and become a subscriber!
