US congressional investigators have identified possible failures in Deutsche Bank AG’s money-laundering controls in its dealings with Russian oligarchs, after the lender handed over a trove of transaction records, e-mails and other documents, three people familiar with the matter said.
The inquiry found instances where Deutsche Bank staff in the US and elsewhere flagged concerns about new Russian clients and transactions involving existing ones, but were ignored by managers, two of the people said.
Lawmakers are also examining whether Deutsche Bank facilitated the funneling of illegal funds into the US as a correspondent bank, where it processes transactions for others, one of the sources said.
The probe, the initial findings of which have not been previously reported, is at an early stage and it is not yet clear whether it will lead to any action against the bank, the three sources said.
The bank cannot comment on the work of the congressional committees, but remains committed to cooperating with authorized investigations, Deutsche Bank spokesman Troy Gravitt said.
Referring to past deficiencies in the bank’s controls, he said: “We have worked to address them, taken disciplinary measures with regards to certain individuals and reviewed our client onboarding and monitoring processes.”
The US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services declined to comment.
The House began examining possible money laundering in US property deals involving US President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The lawmakers are also looking into whether Trump’s dealings left him subject to the influence of foreign individuals or governments.
The White House and Trump Organization spokeswoman Amanda Miller did not respond to requests for comment.
Deutsche Bank has been drawn into the inquiry as Trump’s biggest lender and submitted documents to investigators in response to a subpoena.
The stakes are high for the German lender, which is trying to engineer a turnaround under chief executive officer Christian Sewing after a multi-year bet on building a global investment banking business unraveled.
Graham Barrow, a financial crime consultant, said that while the bank had since sought to reform, it had taken too many risks in countries such as Russia.
“The bank decided to go for becoming a global investment bank,” Barrow said. “They were compromised.”
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Barrow’s view.
In 2017, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay regulators in the US and Britain US$630 million in fines for organizing US$10 billion in sham trades that could have been used to launder money out of Russia.
Two of the sources said that the preliminary findings of the congressional investigators could have some overlap with that case, but also include lapses unrelated to that matter.
New evidence thrown up by the probe could feed into further investigations by other authorities, regulatory experts said.
Earlier this year, the Committee on Financial Services served Deutsche Bank with a 12-page subpoena.
Reuters has seen a version with portions blacked out.
Lawmakers requested documents that identify “any financial relationship, transactions, or ties” between Trump, his family members and his companies and “any foreign individual, entity, or government,” the subpoena said.
It also asks for hundreds of documents relating to other bank clients, including Russian oligarchs, the three sources said.
Although Trump has challenged the release of his banking records in court, in April Deutsche started handing over information that is not directly related to the president and is continuing to do so, one of the people said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the