Danske's shares plunged as the bank's CEO resigned (AFP Photo/Jens Noergaard Larsen) |
Copenhagen
(AFP) - The chief executive of Denmark's largest lender Danske Bank announced
his resignation Wednesday as the institution said it was unable to determine
how much money was laundered through its Estonian branch.
The
announcements came days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Danish
investigators were probing transactions of up to $150 billion "from
companies with ties to Russia and the former Soviet Union" that transited
Danske Bank's Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.
In early
August, the state prosecutor's office for serious economic and international
crime said the bank was being investigated and prosecutors would decide whether
to press charges.
"It is
clear that Danske Bank has failed to live up to its responsibility in the case
of possible money laundering in Estonia," chief executive Thomas Borgen
said in a statement following the conclusion of the bank's internal probe.
"Even
though the investigation conducted by the external law firm concludes that I
have lived up to my legal obligations, I believe that it is best for all
parties that I resign," Borgen said.
The bank
said it was "not able to provide an accurate estimate of the amount of
suspicious transactions made by non-resident customers in Estonia during the
period."
Danske Bank
said it would "donate the gross income from the customers in the period
from 2007 to 2015, which is estimated at 1.5 billion kroner (201 million euros,
$235 million), to an independent foundation which will be set up to support
initiatives aimed at combating international financial crime, including money
laundering, also in Denmark and Estonia."
That sum
will be booked in the third quarter. As a result, the bank revised downwards
its earnings outlook for 2018, forecasting a net profit of 16-17 billion kroner
instead of the previously anticipated 18 to 20 billion.
Shares in
Danske Bank fell by more 3.75 percent in early trading on the Copenhagen stock
exchange, in a flat market.
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