Finance Monthly April 2019 Edition

Something is seriously wrong with the European banking system. Blowbyblow, awaveof claimshashit an increasingnumber of European banks who are alleged to have handled suspicious transactions involving Russian money. European banks such as Raiffeisen Bank, Sweden’s Swedbank AB and Finnish financial services group Nordea are some of the latest firms that have been drawn into Europe’s expanding money-laundering activities. The scandal first came to light when US authorities led an investigation into Latvia’s ABLV bank, accusing it of institutionalised money laundering, but the first major bank who was questioned over illegal activities back in 2017 was Danske Bank A/S after a whistleblower raised suspicions over the origins of billions of euros that had flowed through the Danish bank. Investigations are currently underway after the most recent claims and the constantly increasing number of revelations suggests that the surprises won’t stop here. And although it may take months for regulators and enforcers to determine if any of the allegations from the past few months are substantiated by fact, the question on everyone’s lips is: if the claims are true, why do European banks continuously fail to detect the movement of illicit funds? What is wrong with the European banking system? 19 www.finance-monthly.com SPECIAL FEATURE - MONEY LAUNDERING