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唐朱昌
唐朱昌
教授,博士生导师。复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心首任主任,复旦大学俄...
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严立新
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陈浩然
陈浩然
复旦大学法学院教授、博士生导师;复旦大学国际刑法研究中心主任。...
何 萍
何 萍
华东政法大学刑法学教授,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员,荷...
李小杰
李小杰
安永金融服务风险管理、咨询总监,曾任蚂蚁金服反洗钱总监,复旦大学...
周锦贤
周锦贤
周锦贤先生,香港人,广州暨南大学法律学士,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中...
童文俊
童文俊
高级经济师,复旦大学金融学博士,复旦大学经济学博士后。现供职于中...
汤 俊
汤 俊
武汉中南财经政法大学信息安全学院教授。长期专注于反洗钱/反恐...
李 刚
李 刚
生辰:1977.7.26 籍贯:辽宁抚顺 民族:汉 党派:九三学社 职称:教授 研究...
祝亚雄
祝亚雄
祝亚雄,1974年生,浙江衢州人。浙江师范大学经济与管理学院副教授,博...
顾卿华
顾卿华
复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员;现任安永管理咨询服务合伙...
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上传时间: 2019-11-27      浏览次数:3229次
SEB Faces Money-Laundering Allegations Tied to Russian Scandal


https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/seb-faces-money-laundering-allegations-tied-to-russian-scandal-1.1354080

 

Another major Swedish bank was reportedly used for money laundering, with the country’s state broadcaster alleging it can trace the flow of cash back to a case surrounding the death of a prominent Russian lawyer.

SEB AB, one of Sweden’s three top banks, is suspected of money laundering in the Baltic region, broadcaster SVT reported on Wednesday.

SVT alleges that 475 million kronor ($50 million) that flowed through SEB can be linked to companies involved in Russian tax fraud that Sergei Magnitsky died trying to investigate. Magnitsky was the lawyer of Hermitage Capital Management co-founder Bill Browder, who has made it his mission to chase down those tied to the case.

SEB is the latest Nordic bank to be tainted by allegations that it handled dirty money from Russia via its Baltic operations. The broader case has already dragged down Danske Bank A/S and Swedbank AB. Both those lenders are now being investigated in the U.S. and shareholders are bracing for fines. SEB, which is the biggest bank in the Baltics after Swedbank, says it has terminated relations with customers it found to be suspicious.

Allegations of money laundering have proven ruinous for some of the biggest Nordic banks. Danske’s share price is down about 30% this year, after plunging by almost 50% in 2018. Swedbank has lost almost 40% of its market value this year. Both firms fired their chief executive officers and have committed to cooperating with the relevant authorities as investigations drag on.

SEB has so far maintained that it hasn’t found any evidence of “systematic” laundering. Late on Tuesday, it sought to address any concerns about its role by providing the first glimpse of how much potentially suspicious money gushed through its Baltic business.

The Numbers:

About 84.6 billion euros ($93 billion) in non-resident Estonian customer flows went through the bank between 2005 and 2018, it said. Of that, only 25.8 billion euros was deemed “low transparency.” The amounts fell throughout the period, with low-transparency flows reaching zero in recent years, SEB said.

“Still, at any given time, all banks are subjected to the risks that financial crime entail,” Johan Torgeby, SEB’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.

SEB said:

“From 2006 and onwards, SEB has been working in a structured and determined way, in order to reduce the risk of being exploited in money laundering activities in the Baltic countries. After receiving criticism from the Estonian financial supervisory authority and information from another external source in 2006, the bank took several active decisions in order to reduce risk exposure related to money laundering. A large number of customer relations were ended. As new information has emerged, SEB has continuously ended customer relations and has been reporting suspicious activities to relevant financial police.”

SVT said it identified 130 customers in SEB’s Baltic and Swedish operations that can be identified as high-risk.

SVT cooperated with news agency TT and a group of journalists from Finland’s Yle and the OCCRP network (the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) in investigating SEB’s Baltic business between 2005 and 2017. OCCRP contributed with “a large leak” regarding Lithuanian lender Ukio and its transactions. SVT also had access to “secret documents” regarding SEB, from “within the banking system,” it said.