Deutsche Bank was fined 629 million US Dollar for Russia Trades

Deutsche Bank was fined a total of 629 million US Dollars for compliance failures in relation to transactions of 10 billion US Dollar from Russia to Cyprus, Estonia, and Latvia via London and New York. The UK Financial Conduct Authority issued the ank with a 204 million US Dollar fine and New York’s Department of Financial Services issued a 425 million US Dollar fine. (( Bloomberg 31.01.2017: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-31/deutsche-bank-fined-204-million-over-money-laundering-failings ))

Between 2011 and 2015 Deutsche Bank used so called „mirror-deals“ to convert rubles to dollars and transfer the money out of Russia, which contradicts US and EU sanctions on Russia and money laundering laws. Authorities accused Deutsche Bank of ignoring regulators and the FCA alleges large gaps in the anti-money laundering policies of the bank. Deutsche Bank must now install increased control mechanisms to prevent financial deals with the sole purpose of currency exchanges to bypass sanctions without any economic relevance.

In addition to these fines, the US Department of Justice is still investigating the deals and a final judgment remains to be made in this regard. This fine now forms one of several, including the 7.2 US billion penalty by the US Justice for illegal MBS deals and other ongoing lawsuits. (( Reuters 31.01.2017: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-mirrortrade-probe-idUSKBN15F1GT ))