Deutsche Bank pays price for Russian money scam

Deutsche Bank has been fined more than £500 million by UK and American regulators after failings at the German financial giant spawned a $10 billion (£7.9bn) Russian money-laundering scam.

The Financial Conduct Authority said Deutsche Bank had exposed the UK to the risk of financial crime. Picture: Philip Toscano/PA Wire

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) hit the bank with a record £163 million penalty for anti-money laundering shortcomings and exposing the country “to the risk of financial crime”.

The New York State Department of Financial Services fined Deutsche $425m for the abuses, which took place at the bank’s Moscow, London and New York offices.

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The FCA said the German lender failed to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) control framework from 2012 to 2015.

Lax controls at Deutsche enabled unidentified customers to transfer the money of unknown origin from Russia to offshore bank accounts in a manner that was “highly suggestive of financial crime”, the FCA said.

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