The U.K. law firm that Swedbank hired last year to investigate vast flows of illicit funds through its accounts has identified almost $5 million worth of transactions that may have breached U.S. sanctions, the Swedish lender disclosed Wednesday.
Attorneys and accountants investigating suspected attempts to launder funds through Swedbank are reviewing "30 billion transactions" in an internal probe that has cost more than $100 million to date, the lender disclosed Wednesday.
After Swedbank's affiliate in Estonia decided to eventually offboard one of its largest clients, Carbo One, over money-laundering concerns in late 2016, the company still managed to transfer millions of euros to a similarly named Scottish entity that appears to have existed only on paper.
Finantsinspektsioon, Sweden's financial regulator, issued a warning and administrative fine of 4 billion SEK against the Stockholm, Sweden-based financial institution after uncovering serious deficiencies in the management of money laundering risks related to its operations in the Baltic region.
March 19, 2020
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