Swedish FSA orders Danske Bank to speed up anti-money-laundering fixes

Sweden’s financial watchdog said on Wednesday it had identified deficiencies in Danske Bank’s anti money-laundering routines and told the bank to have them fixed by June next year.

The Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) started a routine investigation into Danske Bank’s compliance in its Swedish business in 2020.

“The bank has fixed some of the shortcomings and presented action plans for, among other things, the lack of general risk assessment and how the bank’s products and services can be used for money laundering,” the FSA said in a statement.

Danske’s original plan to rectify any shortcomings proposed to have all measures in place in 2023, but the FSA said on Wednesday that timeframe was not “acceptable”.

“The FSA considers that it is reasonable to give the bank until 30 June 2022 to take action,” it said.

“We acknowledge the Swedish FSA’s decision on intervention,” Danske’s head of financial crime compliance, Satnam Lehal, told Reuters.

“We note the FSA’s decision to require the bank complete this work sooner than currently scheduled,” Lehal said.

Photo – EPA-EFE/Jens Noergaard Larsen