Swedbank Cleared of Money Laundering by Estonian Prosecutor
By Dominic Chopping
STOCKHOLM--Swedbank has been cleared of money laundering by Estonian prosecutors, ending a years-long probe into the Swedish bank.
Swedbank had been under investigation for governance deficiencies related to anti-money laundering measures in its Baltic subsidiaries after a Swedish TV show reported in 2019 that billions of dollars of potentially illicit funds might have passed through the bank's Estonian branch.
The Estonian State Prosecutor's Office had been investigating whether money was laundered within Swedbank's Estonian subsidiary between 2014 and 2016, but it has found that no crime was committed and the investigation is therefore being closed, Swedbank said.
"With the decision of the prosecutor in Estonia, we can leave yet another investigation of historical shortcomings behind us," said Tomas Hedberg, head of a special task force at Swedbank.
Last year the bank agreed to pay more than $3.4 million to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to settle allegations its subsidiary in Latvia processed transactions that violated U.S. sanctions on Crimea.
The Swedish financial regulator FSA handed Swedbank a 4 billion Swedish kronor ($387.1 million) fine in 2020 after finding the lender's Baltic operations had serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering measures as well as shortcomings in its cooperation with the investigation.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 29, 2024 08:09 ET (13:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.-
For Bond Investors, Delayed Rate Cuts Demand a Different Playbook
-
What’s Happening In the Markets This Week
-
How the Tokyo Stock Exchange Is Pushing for Better Shareholder Returns
-
Magnificent 7 Stocks Earnings Updates: AI Remains the Focus
-
Where We See Opportunities After an Ugly Month for Stocks
-
After Earnings, Is Alphabet Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued?
-
When Will the Fed Start Cutting Interest Rates?
-
What’s the Difference Between the CPI and PCE Indexes?
-
Berkshire Hathaway Earnings: Strong Insurance Results Continue to Lift Revenue and Profitability
-
10 Questions for Berkshire Hathaway’s 2024 Annual Meeting
-
After Earnings, Is Ford Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued?
-
3 Dividend Stocks for May 2024
-
Amgen Earnings: Obesity Drug Update Is Highly Encouraging
-
What’s Going on With Apple, Tesla, and Alphabet?
-
Apple Earnings: A Weak 2024, but Optimism for 2025
-
4 Utility Stocks to Play the AI Data Center Boom