US fines Deutsche Bank $41 mn over money laundering violations

WASHINGTON – 31 May 2017: The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday fined German financial giant Deutsche Bank $41 million over failures to screen billions of dollars in potentially suspicions transactions.

The penalty was only the latest in a string of legal woes the bank faces in the United States. Last month, Deutsche Bank paid more than $150 million for "unsafe and unsound" foreign exchange practices and lax oversight.

In the latest incident, the Federal Reserve said that between 2011 and 2015, a New York unit of the bank, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, processed billions of dollars in potentially suspicious transactions for European affiliates without proper screening.

In addition to the fine, Deutsche Bank will be required to improve internal anti-money laundering controls, which regulators at the Fed found to be deficient.

The Justice Department reportedly also is investigating Deutsche Bank's actions in Russia and so-called mirror trades in which bank clients disguised the movement of money out of that country.

The bank settled with New York and British authorities over the matter in January, agreeing to pay nearly $630 million.

Deutsche Bank has been thrust into the US political spotlight in recent months, because it is a creditor to President Donald Trump and his businesses, causing critics to accuse the administration of conflicts of interest.