Deutsche Bank fined by regulators over money laundering

Deutsche Bank has been fined $630m (£504m) by US 
and UK regulators in connection with a Russian 
money laundering plan.

Under the scheme, clients illegally moved $10bn out of 
Russia via shares bought and sold through the bank's Moscow, London and New York offices.

Authorities said Deutsche had missed "numerous opportunities" to detect, investigate and stop the 
scheme.

Deutsche Bank said it was co-operating with regulators.

It also said it had put aside money to cover the cost 
of the settlement.

During the investigation, New York authorities and
 Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found
 that so called "mirror" trades had been carried out
 through the bank between 2011 and 2015.

Clients would purchase stocks in rubles in Moscow 
before their counterparts sold the same stock at 
the same price through the bank's London branch.


'Unsafe and unsound'

"By converting rubles into dollars through security trades
 that had no discernible economic purpose, the scheme
 was a means for bad actors within a financial institution
 to achieve improper ends while evading compliance
 with applicable laws," according to the legal  document detailing the settlement with DFS.

Regulators blasted the bank for failing to spot the ruse, 
saying it had conducted its business in an "unsafe
 and unsound" manner.

They also said the lender's anti-financial crime teams
 were ineffective and understaffed.

In total, New York authorities fined the bank $425m
 while the UK's FCA's fine was £163m, or about $204m.

In addition to paying the settlement, Deutsche Bank 
also will be required to hire an outside monitor to
 review its internal compliance measures.

It comes less than two weeks after the German bank 
finalised a $7.2bn settlement with the US Justice 
Department over its role in the 2008 financial crisis.

In addition to Monday's action, regulators fined three 
other banks for violations of anti-money laundering
 laws.

Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo was fined $235m, Agricultural 
Bank of China was fined $215m and and Mega 
Bank of Taiwan was fined $185m.