ING: Transaction named in ‘FinCEN’ leaks was administrative mistake

ING Group NV on Wednesday hit back at reports citing the “FinCEN Files,” that said a Polish ING subsidiary had altered the name of a Russian sender on sanctions blacklists on a large payment in 2014 in order to conceal the sender’s identity.

But ING said in a statement on Wednesday those reports were misleading: what actually happened, the company said, was that the name of a sanctioned entity had accidentally been added to one field of a transaction in 2014. The mention was erroneous, was correcly stripped, and the transaction proceeded.

“This has been discussed with relevant U.S. authorities in 2014 and no further action has been taken,” ING said.

A series of articles called the “FinCEN Files,” launched on Sunday by Buzzfeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), detailed how several global banks moved large sums of allegedly illicit funds for decades despite red flags. The series sent bank stocks tumbling on Monday and prompted new calls for legislative reform.

ING shares, down 44% year to date, fell more than 9% on Monday after the reports first surfaced.