Reported by: Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Correspondent

Danske Bank believes it will cost about $2bn in fines to resolve one of the largest money-laundering scandals on record as it nears a solution with US and Danish authorities.

Denmark’s biggest bank said on Thursday that it would take an additional charge of DKr14bn ($1.9bn), taking the total provision to DKr15.5bn, as it hopes to reach agreement with the US Department of Justice, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Danish special crime unit by the end of the year.

“Danske Bank is now in a position to reliably estimate with a high degree of certainty the financial impact of a potential co-ordinated resolution with these authorities, at a total of DKr15.5bn,” the bank added.

It stressed that there was still “uncertainty” that a resolution could be realised but was working towards finishing it this year. It declined further comment.

Danske disclosed one of the biggest dirty money scandals on record in 2018 when it said that much of the €200bn of cash that flowed through its Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015 from countries including Russia was suspicious, though the bank has not stated how much was proved to be money laundering. 

The Danish bank ousted both its chief executive and chair in the aftermath of the scandal, and lost its next chief executive after he was implicated in a separate money-laundering scandal.

Read full report: https://www.ft.com/content/8535bf21-fb42-4177-a7a6-d1f053d398e9