Swedish prosecutors have raided Swedbank as a money-laundering investigation into the largest lender in the Baltics gathers pace.
The Swedish Economic Crime Authority said on Wednesday that it had begun a raid in connection with a probe into whether Swedbank broke insider information rules by disclosing to its largest shareholders in February that a television programme on money-laundering allegations against the bank was about to be broadcast.
Swedbank’s shares, already under pressure following a series of revelations about possible money laundering, fell as much as 7.7 per cent on Wednesday after news of the raid.
Prosecutors told the Financial Times they hoped to provide more information, including whether the investigation could be widened, later in the day when the raid was concluded.
Swedbank confirmed it had been raided in connection with an insider information investigation. “At this point of time, no individual or legal entity has been served suspicion of a crime,” it said, adding that it would co-operate with the authorities.
News of the police raid came as Swedbank faced several new allegations including that it had misled US regulators and that it handled payments that found their way from the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich to Donald Trump’s ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Swedish state broadcaster SVT said that Swedbank had told the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) in 2016 when asked what links it had to Mossack Fonseca — the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal — that it had only identified customers in Sweden and Norway with such links and did not suspect any money laundering.
But SVT claimed that leaked documents showed more than 100 companies with links to Mossack Fonseca did business through Swedbank in the Baltics.
Swedbank told the Financial Times it could not comment on the existence or content of any communications with the DFS. But it added: “Swedbank co-operates fully and communicates clearly, truthfully and with good faith with all relevant authorities.”
SVT also alleged that Vega Holding, a company linked to Mr Yanukovich that had an account with Swedbank, sent $25m to Inlord Sales, a shell company registered as a UK limited liability partnership.
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Inlord reportedly then sent $999,987 in 2012 to Mr Manafort. Swedbank declined to comment on the allegation, citing bank secrecy on the identity of its customers. Vega and Inlord could not immediately be reached for comment.
The latest revelations came on top of SVT publishing extracts from an internal investigation at Swedbank that showed €135bn of money from high-risk non-residents, mostly Russians, passed through the bank in Estonia between 2008 and 2018.
That compares with €200bn of non-resident money that flowed through Danske Bank between 2007 and 2015, a scandal that led to the Danish lender’s shares halving in value last year.
Separately, Danish lawmakers agreed to give the country’s under-fire regulator more powers and staff. Denmark’s business minister said the regulator would double the number of workers combating money laundering to 24.
https://www.ft.com/content/acc757b0-507a-11e9-b401-8d9ef1626294
2019-03-27 10:31:00Z
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